Methods for handling a pattern-based guard band

ABSTRACT

Methods in a first, a second and a third node in a wireless communications network for handling a pattern-based guard band. The first node configures the pattern-based guard band. The pattern-based guard band comprises a pattern, which comprises at least a first set and a second set of time resources. The first set of time resources is associated with a first guard band configuration. The second set of time resources is associated with no guard band configuration or with a second guard band configuration which is different from the first guard band configuration. The method in the second node comprises obtaining the configured pattern-based guard band and adaptively configuring one more actions in response to the obtained pattern-based guard band. The method in the third node comprises sending a request to a first node to configure the pattern-based guard band. The first, second and third nodes are also described.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to a first node, a second node and a thirdnode, and methods therein. In particular, embodiments herein relate tohandling a pattern-based guard band.

BACKGROUND

Communication devices such as wireless devices are also known as e.g.User Equipments (UE), mobile terminals, wireless terminals and/or mobilestations. Wireless devices are enabled to communicate wirelessly in awireless communications system or wireless communication system,sometimes also referred to as a cellular radio system or cellularnetworks. The communication may be performed e.g. between two wirelessdevices, between a wireless device and a regular telephone and/orbetween a wireless device and a server via a Radio Access Network (RAN)and possibly one or more core networks, comprised within the wirelesscommunications system.

Wireless devices may further be referred to as mobile telephones,cellular telephones, or laptops with wireless capability, just tomention some further examples. The wireless devices in the presentcontext may be, for example, portable, pocket-storable, hand-held,computer-comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, enabled tocommunicate voice and/or data, via the RAN, with another entity, such aswireless device or a server.

The wireless communications system covers a geographical area which isdivided into cell areas, wherein each cell area being served by a basestation, e.g. a Radio Base Station (RBS), which sometimes may bereferred to as e.g. “eNB”, “eNodeB”, “NodeB”, “B node”, or BTS (BaseTransceiver Station), depending on the technology and terminology used.The base stations may be of different classes such as e.g. macro eNodeB,home eNodeB or pico base station, based on transmission power andthereby also cell size. A cell is the area of radio coverage provided bythe base station at a base station site. One base station, situated onthe base station site, may serve one or several cells. Further, eachbase station may support one or several communication technologies. Thebase stations communicate over the air interface operating on radiofrequencies with the wireless devices within range of the base stations.

In some RANs, several base stations may be connected, e.g. by landlinesor microwave, to a radio network controller, e.g. a Radio NetworkController (RNC) in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),and/or to each other. The radio network controller, also sometimestermed a Base Station Controller (BSC) e.g. in GSM, may supervise andcoordinate various activities of the plural base stations connectedthereto. GSM is an abbreviation for Global System for MobileCommunications (originally: Groupe Special Mobile).

In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE),base stations, which may be referred to as eNodeBs or even eNBs, may bedirectly connected to one or more core networks.

UMTS is a third generation mobile communication system, which evolvedfrom the GSM, and is intended to provide improved mobile communicationservices based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) accesstechnology. UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) is essentiallya radio access network using wideband code division multiple access forwireless devices. The 3GPP has undertaken to evolve further the UTRANand GSM based radio access network technologies.

According to 3GPP GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), a wirelessdevice has a multi-slot class, which determines the maximum transferrate in the uplink and downlink direction. EDGE is an abbreviation forEnhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution. In the end of 4008 the firstrelease, Release 8, of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard wasfinalized and later releases have also been finalized.

In the context of this disclosure, the expression Downlink (DL) is usedfor the transmission path from the base station to the mobile station.The expression Uplink (UL) is used for the transmission path in theopposite direction i.e. from the mobile station to the base station.

In a wireless communications network, radio transmissions on onefrequency create co-channel interference but may also cause interferenceor noise on another frequency, where the other frequency may be anadjacent or non-adjacent channel, in the same or other frequency band.Interference sources may be categorized as:

-   -   (1) Co-channel (interferer, a.k.a. aggressor, and victim use the        same frequencies); and/or    -   (2) Inter-channel Interference (aggressor and victim use        different frequencies), such as,        -   Out-of-band emissions,        -   Spurious emissions,        -   Unwanted emissions,        -   Adjacent channel interference & receiver selectivity,        -   Spurious responses,        -   Intermodulation, and/or        -   Receiver blocking and receiver overload.

The term inter-channel interference reflects a series of potentialinterference issues that may occur throughout a communications system'sservice area on one channel due to radio communications activity onanother channel. Inter-channel interference is a function of theperformance of both transmitters and receivers.

Out-of-band emissions. Transmitter emissions that fall outside of thetransmitter's intended channel bandwidth are known as out-of-bandemissions (OOBE) or, equivalently, as sideband noise. This noisesplatters into the adjacent channels and into other bands, generallydecreasing in strength with the frequency offset from the transmitterfrequency.

Spurious emissions. Emission on a frequency or frequencies which areoutside the transmitter's intended channel bandwidth are known asspurious emissions, and the level of spurious emissions may be reducedwithout affecting the corresponding transmission of information.

Unwanted emissions. Unwanted emissions consist of spurious emissions andout-of-band emissions.

Adjacent channel interference and receiver selectivity. Desensitization,or ACS (Adjacent Channel Selectivity), is a measure of a receiver'sability to receive a wanted signal at its assigned channel frequency inthe presence of an adjacent channel interfering signal at a givenfrequency offset from the centre frequency of the assigned channel,without the interfering signal causing a degradation of the receiverperformance beyond a specified limit.

Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio is a measure of the power which leaksinto certain specific nearby Radio Frequency (RF) channels as a resultof transmitting in a given channel. It provides an estimate of how mucha neighboring radio receiver will be affected by the Out Of Band (00B)emissions from a transmitter. It is defined as the ratio of the filteredmean power in a set bandwidth within the wanted channel to the filteredmean power in an adjacent channel.

Spurious responses. It is common for transmitters to have elevated powerlevels at a small number of discrete frequencies other than the intendedtransmitter frequency. Likewise, receivers exhibit somewhat elevatedsensitivity at a small number of discrete frequencies outside theintended receive frequency bandwidth.

Intermodulation. Receiver intermodulation (IM) is the result of mixingtwo or more over-the-air signals within a radio's receiver circuitrysuch that the mix products fall within the Intermediate Frequency (IF)bandwidth of the receiver and add to its thermal noise floor, thusreducing the sensitivity of the receiver. IM is not due to thetransmitter's spectrum output but to non-linearity within the receiveritself.

Receiver blocking. Describes a situation when the receiver front end canbe overloaded by a single high level unwanted signal, residing outsideof the desired channel, or multiple high level unwanted signals.

Transmit-receive scenarios are common interference scenarios, especiallyin unpaired spectrum, but also with paired spectrum with multiplesystems in the same area. Some example interference scenarios caused byDL radio transmissions are illustrated in FIG. 1. There are alsointerference scenarios cause by UL radio transmission or a combinationof both DL and UL transmissions.

FIG. 1 illustrates examples of scenarios of adjacent or other-channelinterference from DL (downlink) transmissions on frequency f1: (a) to adevice communicating with another system (e.g., a satellite) onfrequency f2; (b) to a device receiving DL transmissions from a radionode on frequency f3; (c) to a radio node receiving UL (uplink)transmissions from a device on frequency f4, where the radio node maybelong to own system (e.g., with FDD or frequency division duplex whereDL and UL transmissions are on different frequencies) or other system;and (d) to a device communicating with another device using frequencyf5.

The amount of inter-channel interference and the caused performancedegradation of a victim system may be significant. Managing theinter-channel interference may thus be important for spectrummanagement, network planning, network deployment, and/or networkoperation tasks. To provide good/improved co-existence performance ofmultiple systems and control an amount of allowed emitted power andunwanted emissions as well as a receiver ACS capability, the 3GPP(3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project) standard specifies RFtransmitter and receiver requirements, e.g., spectral masks, ACLR(Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio), ACS, etc., which are defined for bothuser equipment and radio nodes.

Radio Requirements

The UEs (i.e., user equipment nodes or wireless devices or terminals)and base stations may be required to fulfill a specified set of RFtransmitter and RF receiver requirements to provide that the wirelessdevices limit interference and are able to handle a certain level ofinterference respectively.

More specifically, out of band (OOB) and spurious emission requirementsare to be met as part of RF transmitter requirements. An objective ofOOB and spurious emission requirements is to reduce/limit theinterference caused by the transmitters (e.g., User Equipment (UE)and/or Base Station (BS) transmitters) outside their respectiveoperating bandwidths to the adjacent carriers or bands. In fact,wireless communication standards such as GSM, UTRAN, Evolved UTRAN(E-UTRAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) etc., clearly specify theOOB and spurious emission requirements to reduce, limit, and/or minimizeunwanted emissions. These requirements may be primarily approved and setby the national and international regulatory bodies, such as, ITU-R(International Telecommunications Union—Radiocommunications Sector), FCC(Federal Communications Commission), ARIB (Association of RadioIndustries And Businesses), ETSI (European Telecommunications StandardsInstitute), etc.

Unwanted emission requirements, which may be specified by thestandardization bodies and eventually enforced by the regulators indifferent countries and regions for both UE and the base stations mayinclude:

-   -   (1) Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR);    -   (2) Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM);    -   (3) Spurious emissions; and/or    -   (4) In-band unwanted emissions.

Specific definitions and/or specified levels of these requirements mayvary from one system to another. Typically, these requirements providethat emission levels outside an operating bandwidth or band in somecases remain several tens of decibels (dB)lower compared to the wantedsignal in the operating bandwidth. Although OOB and spurious emissionlevel tend to decay dramatically further away from an operating band,they may not be completely eliminated, at least in the adjacent carrierfrequencies.

Significant RF receiver requirements, which are typically specified bythe standards bodies and in some cases enforced by the regulators indifferent countries and regions for both UE and the base stationsinclude:

-   -   (1) Receiver sensitivity;    -   (2) Adjacent Channel Selectively (ACS);    -   (3) In-channel selectivity;    -   (4) Spurious emissions; and/or    -   (5) Blocking: in-band, out-of-band, narrow-band, etc.

Operating Bands in 3GPP

The currently specified operation bands for Evolved UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) are shown in Table 1 of FIG. 2. Theembodiments described herein, however, are not limited to E-UTRA bands,3GPP bands, or even licensed bands in general.

Spectrum Management and Guard Bands

A significant step in the development of interference avoidancemechanisms is the creation of a spectrum database. It may also beimportant to supplement this allocation and assignment data withinformation regarding the actual use of the airwaves. Indeed, a morecomplete database may include additional information such as temporalduty cycles, and active and inactive time periods. The analysis of theinventory information along with any data on the actual use of spectrummay take into account the purpose for which a spectrum band in questionhas been originally allocated. For example, in some bands, it may beappropriate to look at average spectrum utilization over a given periodof time or over a certain geographic area. For other bands, utilizationcould be based on peak usage levels, especially during times ofemergency.

Configuring guard bands is one of the basic inter-channel interference,mainly adjacent channel interference, avoidance techniques. The part ofthe spectrum constituting a guard band is either unused or is partiallyused by the wireless device. The latter is also known as restrictedoperation or guard band comprising the restricted use of radioresources. More specifically the partial or limited use may mean, forexample, that the transmitter is allowed to transmit at lower powerlevel, e.g. up to 0 dBm in guard band, whereas up to 43 dBm may betransmitted in normal (non-guard band) portions of the spectrum.

A guard band is an allocation of spectrum used to separate adjacenttransmit and receive bands within a given service or to separate bandsof different services for the purpose of protecting operations withinthe separated bands from interference. Guard bands allow sideband noiseand filter responses to roll off to acceptable levels before enteringother bands. A guard band may be helpful, for example, to account forpractical limits of filters used to prevent strong off-channel signalsor emissions from entering receivers while enabling reducingout-of-channel signals or emissions to levels sufficient to protect thereceiver. The guard band spectrum is typically designated for anothertype of service that, due to its particular use case, is neithersignificantly affected by interference from the adjacent bands norsignificantly interferes with the adjacent bands.

Unused band, unused spectrum, restricted band, restricted spectrum,and/or restricted resource blocks are some of the alternateterminologies used to describe guard bands. All of these terms may havesubstantially the same meaning (i.e., part of unused spectrum orspectrum with limited use to reduce/prevent interference between 2wireless systems.

Formal Guard Band Allocation

Frequency coordination may be an effective method in which a guard spaceis used to separate systems sharing the same frequency spectrum oroccupying adjacent frequency spectrum. Frequency coordination is usuallythought of as a formal process by which a frequency and a coverage areaare assigned to an applicant. Guard bands may then be statically decidedby a regulatory body. The guard band may also be decided mutually by theindividual parties operating their systems in adjacent bands orcarriers. For example, operator A and operator B operating LTE (LongTerm Evolution) TDD (Time Division Duplex) systems using adjacentcarrier frequencies may decide to keep a guard band of 5 Mega Hertz(MHz). This can be realized, for example, using equal spectrumcontribution from each operator (i.e., each operator may agree to setaside 2.5 MHz of unused spectrum). An example of a guard band isillustrated in FIG. 3 for an 800 MHz land-mobile band and an associatedguard band.

The statically assigned guard bands may not be efficient from a spectrumutilization point of view. Furthermore, they may or may not besufficient, depending on the location of transmitters and receivers andthe transmit power level. Additional means of dealing with theinterference may thus be used as discussed below.

Duplex antenna combining. Duplexing is a way to reduce interference whenan antenna is shared by a transmitter and a receiver. The techniqueincludes combining, for example, a base station's transmitter antennaand receiver antenna into a single antenna) through a duplexer whichattenuates the transmitter's signal and reduces/prevents entry of thetransmitter's signal into the receiver to a practical extent.

Physical separation of BS transmitter antenna(s) and BS receiverantenna(s) (see FIG. 4 a). As shown in FIG. 4 a, for example, astatically allocated 2 MHz guard band may be sufficient fornon-collocated BS transmitters and receivers, but not for BStransmitters and receivers located at a same antenna tower.

Interference between mobile transmitter and mobile receiver (see FIG. 4b). A guard band between UE (mobile) transmitter frequency spectrum andUE (mobile) receiver frequency spectrum may be less practical because alarge guard band may be needed compared to the BS-to-BS case due to morerelaxed requirements for mobiles and practical filter limitations.

Effective guard bands by geographical reuse for BS-to-mobile andmobile-to-BS scenarios. By exploiting geolocation of transmitters andreceivers and by exploiting the fact that the inter-channel interferencefor BS-to-mobile and mobile-to-BS may typically be less significant(e.g. due to height difference or isolation), a true guard band may beomitted. For example, see FIG. 4 c.

In general, guard bands may be very effective at reducing effects ofOOBE from narrowband systems because the OOBE of a narrowbandtransmitter may roll off significantly in a practical-sized guard band(e.g., approximately 1 MHz). Broadband signals, however, may havebroader OOBE spectrums, and aggressive filtering may still be requiredto substantially reduce OOBE with a 1 MHz guard band, which may only bepractical at base stations.

In some exceptions, a slightly higher performance degradation may beaccepted as a worst case while allowing for a more dynamic guard bandcontrol. For example, to reduce/prevent OOBE from 500 MHz C Block LTEmobile transmitters from interfering with public safety mobiles in the500 MHz public safety block, a special mode was created in the 3GPPstandard that results in lower OOBE but also reduces throughput. Thespecial mode is under the control of the cellular operator and is turnedon through a downlink message on a cell-by-cell basis.

However, this may not just be a problem between LTE and narrowbandpublic safety. Any mobile receivers operating in the 500 MHz spectrummay be affected by the OOBE because the 1 MHz guard band between thebase and mobile transmit bands may be insufficient for significantattenuation of broadband signals. On the other hand, the 1 MHz guardband between Block C and the D/Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST)blocks may provide sufficient room for filters on the broadband basetransmitters to attenuate the base-generated OOBE, reducing potentialinterference near base stations.

The operation of two unsynchronized TDD systems in adjacent carriers isanother scenario where guard bands may be required. In TDD, UL and DLsubframes operate on the same carrier. Without any guard band, cross ULand DL subframe interference may lead to severe performance degradationat the UE receiver (e.g., due to UE to UE interference) as well as atthe BS receiver (e.g., due to BS to BS interference). This cross UL/DLsubframe interference may even lead to complete disruption of theservice, for example, if UEs on two carriers are quite close. Therefore,a guard band is required between the two unsynchronized TDD carriers.

The operation of a TDD system and an FDD system using adjacent carriersis another scenario where guard bands may be required. The adjacent TDDand FDD carriers may belong to different frequency bands, but the bandsare adjacent. An example is operation in 2.6 GHz, for example, LTE FDDband 7 and LTE TDD band 38. The TDD band 38 operates in the center ofFDD band 7. Therefore, to reduce, avoid, and/or minimize inter-systeminterference, restricted use of 5 MHz of spectrum on each edge of theTDD band 38 may be recommended. The restricted usage corresponds to theguard band in a sense that both LTE TDD UE and LTE TDD BS transmissionsat the edges of band 38 are allowed at very low output power.

Multi-Carrier Aggregation System

To increase/enhance peak-rates within a technology, multi-carrier orcarrier aggregation solutions are known. Each carrier in a multi-carrieror carrier aggregation system may generally be termed as a componentcarrier (CC) or sometimes is also referred to as a cell. The termcarrier aggregation (CA) may also be referred to using terms such as“multi-carrier system”, “multi-cell operation”, “multi-carrieroperation”, “multi-carrier” transmission, and/or reception. This meansthe CA is used for transmission of signaling and data in the uplink anddownlink directions. One of the CCs is the primary carrier or anchorcarrier and the remaining CCs are called secondary or supplementarycarriers. Generally, the primary or anchor CC carries the essential UEspecific signaling. The primary CC exists in both uplink and directionCA. The network may assign different primary carriers to different UEsoperating in the same sector or cell. Thanks to carrier aggregation, theUE has more than one serving cell: one primary serving cell and one ormore secondary serving cell(s). The serving cell may alternatively bereferred to as a primary cell (PCell) or primary serving cell (PSC).Similarly the secondary serving cell may be referred to as a secondarycell (SCell) or secondary serving cell (SSC). Regardless of theterminology, the PCell and SCell(s) enable the UE to receive andtransmit data. More specifically the PCell and SCell exist in DL and ULfor the reception and transmission of data by the UE. The remainingnon-serving cells on the Primary Component Carrier (PCC) and SecondaryComponent Carrier (SCC) are called neighbor cells.

The CCs belonging to the CA may belong to the same frequency band (alsoreferred to as intra-band CA) or to a different frequency band(s)(inter-band CA) or any combination thereof (e.g., 2 CCs in band A and 1CC in band B). The carriers in intra-band CA can be adjacent (alsoreferred to as contiguous) or non-adjacent (also referred to asnon-contiguous). In non-adjacent intra-band CA, the carriers in gaps maytypically be used by other operators. Typically, in intra-band CA, theUE may require a single RF receiver chain and RF transmitter chain toreceive and transmit the aggregated carriers respectively, especiallywhen the total aggregated carriers are within a certain limit (e.g. 20MHz in total for HSPA or 40 MHz in total for LTE). Otherwise, the UE mayhave to implement multiple RF transmitter/receiver chains for anaggregated larger number of carriers and particularly in case ofnon-contiguous CA.

The inter-band CA including carriers distributed over two bands is alsoreferred to as dual-band-dual-carrier High Speed Downlink Packet Access(DB-DC-HSDPA) in HSPA (High Speed Packet Access). Furthermore the CCs inintra-band CA may be adjacent or non-adjacent in frequency domain (alsoreferred to as intra-band non-adjacent CA). A hybrid CA includingintra-band adjacent CA, intra-band non-adjacent CA, and inter-band CA isalso possible.

In HSPA release 10 (also referred to as 4C-HSDPA), up to 4 DL carrierscan be aggregated where the DL carriers or DL cells may belong to thesame frequency band or may be split over two different frequency bands(e.g. 3 adjacent DL carriers in band I at 2.1 GHz and 1 DL carrier inband VIII at 900 MHz). In HSPA Rel-11 (also referred to as 8C-HSDPA), upto 8 DL carriers may be aggregated, and the DL carriers may bedistributed over 2 or even more bands. In the present version of theHSPA and LTE specifications (i.e., rel-10), all the carriers that belongto one frequency band may have to be adjacent when configured by higherlayers (e.g. RRC or Radio Resource Control). The operation onnon-adjacent carriers within the same band, however, may result from thecarrier activation/deactivation, which is performed by the lower layers(e.g., the MAC or Media Access Control layer). As stated above, however,the non-adjacent carriers within the same band may also be configurableprovided that the UE supports this capability.

In principle, up to 5 DL carriers and 5 UL carriers (each of up to 20MHz) may be aggregated by the UE in LTE intra-band CA. Even morecarriers may be introduced in future releases. UE requirements exist forat least 2 DL carriers and 2 UL carriers (e.g., up to 40 MHz in UL andDL) according to release 10. The intra-band non-contiguous CA is alsopossible in LTE both in the DL and UL. The UE may use single RF chain ormultiple RF chains depending upon the aggregated bandwidth.

In LTE inter-band CA, up to 5 DL and 5 UL carriers (each of up to 20 MHzand belonging to different bands) can be aggregated by the UE. Evenadditional carriers belonging to different bands may be introduced infuture releases. UE requirements exist for at least 2 DL carriers belongto 2 different bands and 1 UL carriers in release 10. The requirementsfor 2 UL inter-band CA are being introduced in release 11. Typically,for inter-band CA, the UE has an independent RF chain for each CC whichmay belong to a different frequency band.

The CCs in CA may or may not be co-located in the same site or basestation. For example, the CCs may originate (i.e., may betransmitted/received) at different locations (e.g. from non-located BS,RRH or remote radio head, or RRU or remote radio unit). Examples ofcombined CA and multi-point communication include DAS (DistributedAntenna System), RRH (Remote Radio Head), RRU (Remote Radio Unit), CoMP(coordinated multi-point), and multi-point transmission/reception, etc.Embodiments discussed herein may also apply to multi-point carrieraggregation systems.

Signal Activity Patterns

Signal activity patterns are described below for transmit and receiveactivity patterns.

Transmit Activity Patterns

A transmit activity pattern includes indication of time period(s) withno or very low signal transmission followed by time period(s) withnormal signal transmission. The transmit activity pattern can be in thedownlink (e.g. on signals transmitted by base station) or uplink (e.g.on signals transmitted by UE). Transmit activity patterns may relate toDL or UL transmissions. Some non-limiting examples of transmit activitypatterns include:

-   -   (1) Any transmit pattern in general,    -   (2) Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) pattern used for interference        coordination in heterogeneous networks;    -   (3) Signal transmissions following a certain pattern (e.g.,        periodic satellite, radar transmissions, and/or high-power        physical signal transmissions in a cellular network);    -   (4) Discontinuous transmission (DTX) in DL;    -   (5) DTX (Discontinuous Transmission) in UL; and/or    -   (6) UL-DL TDD configuration (e.g. TDD UL-DL subframe        configuration, TDD special subframe configuration, etc.)

Receive Activity Patterns

The receive activity pattern (including time period(s) with no or verylimited signals) may be required to be received followed by timeperiod(s) with normal signal reception. A receive activity pattern mayrelate to receiving DL or UL signals and/or channels. The transmitactivity pattern may also be in the downlink (e.g., on signals receivedby the UE) or uplink (e.g., on signals received by the BS). Somenon-limiting examples of receive activity patterns are identified asfollows:

-   -   (1) Any measurement pattern in general;    -   (2) Time-domain measurement pattern used for interference        coordination in heterogeneous networks;    -   (3) DRX; and/or    -   (4) UL-DL TDD configuration (e.g. TDD UL-DL subframe        configuration, TDD special subframe configuration, etc.        Scenarios with Low Traffic Intensity

There are several scenarios where the traffic is low or sporadic.Examples of such scenarios are described below.

Low-Traffic Load

Low-traffic time occasions may occur with different periodicities, overdifferent time intervals, and for different reasons.

Certain services like speech may require low bit rate, and operation ofthese services may also be periodic (e.g. once every 20 ms for speech).The traffic may also follow certain scheduling patterns. For example,low-interference subframes may be configured in an LTE for differentpurposes such as MBSFN (Multi-Broadcast Single Frequency Network)subframes for backhaul communication for relays or low-power nodes,positioning subframes for positioning measurements, and/or almost blanksubframes (ABS) for enhanced inter-cell interference coordination.Furthermore, at certain locations and/or times of day, the networkactivity may be very low. In an industrial zone, for example, theactivity of the mobile network may be very low during night time, overweekends, and/or during holidays.

Machine Type Communications

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication or Machine Type Communication(MTC) may be used to establish communication between machines andbetween machines and humans. The communication may include exchange ofdata, signaling, measurement data, configuration information, etc. Thedevice size may vary from that of a wallet to that of a base station.The M2M devices can be configured both for mobile operation and staticoperation. In most scenarios, the M2M devices will transmit and receivedata occasionally, so that in some cases, the device receiver activitycan be as low as in IDLE state or even lower.

SUMMARY

It is an object of embodiments herein to provide an improved way ofconfiguring a guard band.

According to a first aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a method in a first node for handling a pattern-based guardband. The first node is comprised in a wireless communications network.The method comprises configuring the pattern-based guard band. Thepattern-based guard band comprises a pattern. The pattern comprises atleast a first set of time resources and a second set of time resources.The first set of time resources is associated with a first guard bandconfiguration. The second set of time resources is associated with oneof: no guard band configuration and a second guard band configuration.The second guard band configuration is different from the first guardband configuration.

According to a second aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a method in a second node for handling a pattern-based guardband. The second node is comprised in the wireless communicationsnetwork. The method comprises obtaining a configured pattern-based guardband. The pattern-based guard band comprises a pattern. The patterncomprises at least a first set of time resources and a second set oftime resources. The first set of time resources is associated with afirst guard band configuration. The second set of time resources isassociated with one of: no guard band configuration and a second guardband configuration. The second guard band configuration is differentfrom the first guard band configuration. The pattern-based guard band isconfigured by the first node in the wireless communications network. Themethod also comprises adaptively configuring one more actions inresponse to the obtained pattern-based guard band.

According to a third aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a method in a third node for handling a pattern-based guardband. The third node is comprised in the wireless communicationsnetwork. The method comprises sending a request to the first node in thewireless communications network to configure a pattern-based guard band.The pattern-based guard band comprises a pattern. The pattern comprisesat least a first set of time resources and a second set of timeresources. The first set of time resources is associated with a firstguard band configuration. The second set of time resources is associatedwith one of: no guard band configuration and a second guard bandconfiguration. The second guard band configuration is different from thefirst guard band configuration.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by the first node for handling a pattern-based guard band. Thefirst node is adapted to be comprised in the wireless communicationsnetwork. The first node comprises a configuring circuit configured toconfigure the pattern-based guard band. The pattern-based guard bandcomprises a pattern. The pattern comprises at least a first set of timeresources and a second set of time resources. The first set of timeresources is associated with a first guard band configuration. Thesecond set of time resources is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration. The second guardband configuration is different from the first guard band configuration.

According to a fifth aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by the second node for handling a pattern-based guard band. Thesecond node is adapted to be comprised in a wireless communicationsnetwork. The second node comprises an obtaining circuit configured toobtain a configured pattern-based guard band. The pattern-based guardband comprises a pattern. The pattern comprises at least a first set oftime resources and a second set of time resources. The first set of timeresources is associated with a first guard band configuration. Thesecond set of time resources is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration. The second guardband configuration is different from the first guard band configuration.The pattern-based guard band is configured by the first node, which isadapted to be comprised in the wireless communications network. Thesecond node also comprises a configuring circuit. The configuringcircuit is configured to adaptively configure one more actions inresponse to the obtained pattern-based guard band.

According to a sixth aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by the third node for handling a pattern-based guard band. Thethird node is adapted to be comprised in the wireless communicationsnetwork. The third node comprises a sending circuit configured to send arequest to the first node. The first node is adapted to be comprised inthe wireless communications network. The request is to configure apattern-based guard band. The pattern-based guard band comprises apattern. The pattern comprises at least a first set of time resourcesand a second set of time resources. The first set of time resources isassociated with a first guard band configuration. The second set of timeresources is associated with one of: no guard band configuration and asecond guard band configuration. The second guard band configuration isdifferent from the first guard band configuration.

By using the described pattern-based guard band, an improved guard bandis provided, since the guard band does not always use the same radioresources. The usage of radio resources changes according to the guardband pattern.

A particular advantage of the embodiments herein is that more efficientresource utilization may be provided in both aggressor and victimsystems, and flexible guard band configuration may be provided when theguard band may be configured as a pattern. In an aggressor system,reduced wasting of resources may be provided compared to staticallyconfigured guard bands. In a victim system, improved awareness of theaggressor transmissions may be provided.

A further particular advantage of the embodiments herein is that reducedsignaling overhead may be provided compared to a fully dynamic guardband configuration. Workload may be reduced for radio nodes compared tofully dynamic guard band configuration, because the guard band may beconfigured by a third node. eICIC may be performed and/or adapted in aco-existence scenario.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiment(s)of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communications network that includes userequipment, radio network nodes, and network nodes which can beconfigured to operate according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a table of operational bands for E-UTRA;

FIG. 3 illustrates a guard band between a public mobile band and aprivate land mobile band;

FIGS. 4 a, 4 b, and 4 c illustrate guard bands that are provided betweenadjacent transmitter and receiver bands;

FIGS. 5 a, 5 b, 5 c and 5 d illustrate a schematic block diagram of awireless communications network, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 6 a, 6 b, and 6 c illustrate guard bands scheduled at specifictime occasions according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a first node,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a secondnode, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a third node,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a first node that is configured accordingto some embodiments;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a second node that is configured accordingto some embodiments; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a third node that is configured accordingto some embodiments; and

FIG. 13 illustrates a wireless communications network that includes userequipment, radio network nodes, and network nodes which may implementguard bands according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As part of the development of embodiments herein, a number of problemswith the existing systems will first be identified and discussed.

At least the following problems with existing systems may be envisioned.First, resource utilization may be inefficient if guard bands areconfigured over a continuous time period, such as,

-   -   (1) An aggressor system may be not generate interference during        a continuous period of time, e.g., due to discontinuous        transmission activity in the entire aggressor system or its part        or due to discontinuous transmissions of specific signals that        have significant impact on the victim system (not all        transmissions may have the same impact),    -   (2) A victim system may not need protection during a continuous        period of time, e.g., due to discontinuous reception of signals        particularly sensitive to the aggressor interference, and/or    -   (3) Under moderate traffic load, the victim system may not        continuously schedule users. Under low load or during certain        time(s) of the day, the victim system may even schedule data        sporadically. In these scenarios the traditional approach of        continuously maintaining guard band in the aggressor system may        lead to unnecessary wastage of resources in the aggressor        system.

Second, when aggressor interference is dynamically varying, dynamicconfiguration or reconfiguration of guard bands may lead to asignificant signaling overhead in the event that the guard bandinformation needs to be exchanged with or communicated to another node.

Third, the existing signal activity pattern with restricted transmission(e.g. ABS pattern) used in heterogeneous networks may be employed in anaggressor system to lower interference towards the victim system. Thesepatterns, however, may not take into consideration the impact of radioemissions in an adjacent carrier or frequency band(s). In other words,the existing patterns may be used regardless of whether there is aco-existence problem between the spectrum used by the aggressor systemand that used by the victim system. Furthermore, guard bands, ifconfigured in the victim system, may not depend on the low-activitypatterns in the aggressor system. In a common co-existence scenario,when aggressor and victim carriers are adjacent or closely located, thesignal transmitted by the victim carrier generates out-of-band emissioninto the carrier of the victim system, which may occur, for example, dueto imperfections in RF components in general and imperfection in RFcomponents in the RF filter. The generated out-of band emissions maydegrade the victim's receiver performance. The generated out-of bandemissions, if they are strong, may even block the victim's receiver fromreceiving any signal (including the intended useful signal) resulting ina complete disruption of the victim's receiver. The aggressor receivermay also generate harmonics into the victim's receiver or even into thevictim's transmitter. Another type of unwanted emissions is spuriousemissions in the spurious frequency domain (e.g., harmonics which occurnot necessarily in the adjacent band but in portions of the spectrumdetermined by the frequencies of the mixed signals).

Embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodiments of theclaimed subject matter are shown. The claimed subject matter may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. It should also be notedthat these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from oneembodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present/used in anotherembodiment.

FIGS. 5 a-d depict a wireless communications network 500 in whichembodiments herein may be implemented. The wireless communicationsnetwork 500 may for example be a network such as a Long-Term Evolution(LTE), e.g. LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE Time DivisionDuplex (TDD), LTE Half-Duplex Frequency Division Duplex (HD-FDD),Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Universal TerrestrialRadio Access (UTRA) TDD, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)network, GSM/Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE) Radio AccessNetwork (GERAN) network, EDGE network, network comprising of anycombination of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as e.g.Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) base stations, multi-RAT base stations etc.,any 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network,Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or any cellularnetwork or system.

The wireless communications network 500 comprises a first node 511, asecond node 512, and a third node 513. In the embodiment of FIG. 5 a,and for illustrative purposes only, each of the first node 511, thesecond node 512 and the third node 513 may be network nodes. However, inother embodiments, such as those depicted in FIGS. 5 b-d, any of thefirst node 511, the second node 512 and the third node 513 may also beany of a wireless device, a radio network node, or a network node ingeneral, as defined below. The wireless communications network 500comprises a first radio node 514 and a second radio node 515. Each ofthe first radio node 514 and the second radio node 515 may be, forexample, base stations such as e.g. an eNB, eNodeB, or a Home Node B, aHome eNode B, femto Base Station, BS, pico BS or any other network unitcapable to serve a device or a machine type communication device in awireless communications network 500. In some particular embodiments, thefirst radio node 514 or the second radio node 515 may be a stationaryrelay node or a mobile relay node. The mixed wireless network 500 coversa geographical area which is divided into cell areas, wherein each cellarea is served by a network node, although, one network node may serveone or several cells. In the examples depicted in FIG. 5 a-d, the firstradio node 514 serves a first cell 521, and the second radio node 515serves a second cell 522. Each of the first radio node 514 and thesecond radio node 515 may be of different classes, such as e.g. macroeNodeB, home eNodeB or pico base station, based on transmission powerand thereby also cell size. Typically, wireless communications network500 may comprise more cells similar to 521 and 522, served by theirrespective network nodes. This is not depicted in FIGS. 5 a-d for thesake of simplicity. Each of the first radio node 514 and the secondradio node 515 may support one or several communication technologies,and its name may depend on the technology and terminology used. In 3GPPLTE network nodes, which may be referred to as eNodeBs or even eNBs, maybe directly connected to one or more core networks.

In some embodiments, such as in that depicted in FIG. 5 a, the thirdnode 513 may be a network node 516. The network node 516 may be, forexample, a “centralized network management node” or “coordinating node”,which as used herein is a network node, which may also be a radionetwork node, which coordinates radio resources with one or more radionetwork nodes and/or UEs. Some examples of the coordinating node arenetwork monitoring and configuration node, Operations Support System(OSS) node, Operations & Maintenance (O&M) node, Minimization of DriveTests (MDT) node, Self-Organizing Network (SON) node, positioning node,a gateway node such as Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) or ServingGateway (S-GW) network node or femto gateway node, a macro nodecoordinating smaller radio nodes associated with it, etc.

Further detailed information on network node and radio network node isprovided below under the heading “Generalizations”.

The first radio node 514 may e.g. communicate with the second radio node515 over a link 541 and communicate with the network node 516 over alink 542. The second radio node 515 may communicate with the networknode 516 over a link 543.

A number of wireless devices are located in the wireless communicationsnetwork 500. In the example scenarios of FIGS. 5 a-d, only two wirelessdevices are shown, first wireless device 531, and second wireless device532. The first wireless device 531 may e.g. communicate with the firstradio node 514 over a radio link 544. The second wireless device 532 maycommunicate with the second radio node 515 over a radio link 545.

Each of the first wireless device 531 and second wireless device 532 isa wireless communication device such as a UE which is also known as e.g.mobile terminal, wireless terminal and/or mobile station. The device iswireless, i.e., it is enabled to communicate wirelessly in a wirelesscommunication network, sometimes also referred to as a cellular radiosystem or cellular network. The communication may be performed e.g.,between two devices, between a device and a regular telephone and/orbetween a device and a server. The communication may be performed e.g.,via a RAN and possibly one or more core networks, comprised within thewireless network.

Each of the first wireless device 531 and second wireless device 532 mayfurther be referred to as a mobile telephone, cellular telephone, orlaptop with wireless capability, just to mention some further examples.Each of the first wireless device 531 and second wireless device 532 inthe present context may be, for example, portable, pocket-storable,hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices,enabled to communicate voice and/or data, via the RAN, with anotherentity, such as a server, a laptop, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA),or a tablet computer, sometimes referred to as a surf plate withwireless capability, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices, devices equippedwith a wireless interface, such as a printer or a file storage device orany other radio network unit capable of communicating over a radio linkin a cellular communications system.

Further detailed information of the first node 511, second node 512,third node 513 and the wireless communications network 500 is providedbelow under the heading “Generalizations”.

As stated earlier, and as it is explained in detail in under theheadings and subheadings following the actions and systems claimedherein, any of the first node 511, the second node 512 or the third node513 may be one of: a first radio node 514, a second radio node 515, anetwork node 516, or a wireless device 531, 532.

Example of embodiments of methods in the first node 511, in the secondnode 512 and in the third node 513 for handling a pattern-based guardband, will now be described in reference to the embodiments of apattern-based guard band depicted in FIGS. 6 a-c. Each of FIGS. 6 a-cshows a non-limiting example of a pattern-based guard band 600, asdescribed below in detail under the heading “Pattern-Based Guard Bands”and the subheading “Information Related to Guard Band Patterns”. Thepattern-based guard band 600 in each of the examples in FIGS. 6 a-cshows at least a first guard band configuration 610. FIG. 6 b shows alsoat least a second guard band configuration 620. Each of the first guardband configurations 610, and the second guard band configuration 620 isassociated with a set of time resources, but may also be associated witha set of frequency resources and/or power levels. As shown in FIGS. 6a-c, each of the pattern-based guard band 600 has at least a first setof time resources 630 and a second set of time resources 640, which arenot necessarily first and second in time, as shown for example, in FIGS.6 a and 6 b. The first set of time resources 630 is associated with thefirst guard band configuration 610. In some embodiments, such as thosedepicted in FIGS. 6 a and 6 c, the second set of time resources 640 maybe associated with no guard band configuration. In other embodiments,such as that shown in FIG. 6 b, the second set of time resources 640 maybe associated with the second guard band configuration 620. As can beappreciated in this example, the second guard band configuration 620 isdifferent from the first guard band configuration 610. The first guardband configuration 610 and the second guard band configuration 620 maybe different in any of the characteristics or parameters detailed belowunder the heading “Pattern-Based Guard Bands” and the subheading“Information Related to Guard Band Patterns”. For example, the firstguard band configuration 610 and the second guard band configuration 620may be different in terms of frequency resources. As shown in FIGS. 6a-c, each of the pattern-based guard band 600 may have at least a firstset of frequency resources 650 and a second set of frequency resources660. The first guard band configurations 610 may be associated with thefirst set of frequency resources 650. The second guard bandconfiguration 620 may be associated with the second set of frequencyresources 660. As shown in FIGS. 6 a-c, in some embodiments,pattern-based guard band 600 may have a third configuration 670associated with a third set of time resources 680 and a third set offrequency resources 690. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 6 b,pattern-based guard band 600 may have a fourth configuration 691associated with a fourth set of time resources 692 and a fourth set offrequency resources 693. These embodiments are not meant to be limiting,as pattern-based guard band 600 may have more than four configurationsin some embodiments, and each may have its respective set of timeresources and set of frequency resources and/or power levels.

A method in the first node 511, the second node 512 and the third node513 will first be described in a general way, followed by a moredetailed description. Example of embodiments of a method in the firstnode 511 for handling a pattern-based guard band 600, will now bedescribed with reference to a flowchart depicted in FIG. 7. The firstnode 511, the second node 512 and the third node 513 may be comprised inthe wireless communications network 500.

In some embodiments, the first node 511 may be one of: an aggressorsystem and a victim system. Information on these and other embodimentsmay be found below in further detail under the subheading “Method OfSignaling Means and Nodes Involved in Communication of the InformationRelated to Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

In some embodiments, the guard band 600 may comprise at least one of: anunused spectrum and spectrum with restricted operation. The restrictedoperation may be typically realized by allowing the transmitter totransmit at lower power level, i.e., below a certain threshold.

Further detailed information of the pattern-based guard band is providedbelow under the heading “Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be takenin any suitable order. Dashed lines of some boxes in FIG. 7 indicatethat the action is not mandatory.

Action 701

As a non-limiting illustrating scenario, when an aggressor system mayhave unwanted emissions into the operating carrier frequency of a victimsystem, the pattern-based guard band 600 described herein may be used tomitigate fully and/or partly this interference. In some embodiments, thesystem which is victim to the aggressor system's interference, may senda request to the aggressor system to configure such a pattern-basedguard band 600. In other embodiments, another node, such as the thirdnode 513, e.g., a network node 516, may send this request.

Thus, in some embodiments, the first node 511 may receive a request fromat least one of the second node 512 and a third node 513 in the wirelesscommunications network 500 to configure one or more guard band patterns.This is an optional action.

The action of receiving a request is described below in further detailunder the subheading “Method Of Signaling Means and Nodes Involved inCommunication of the Information Related to Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

Action 702

Following the illustrating example given, an aggressor may needinformation related to the pattern-based guard band 600 in order toconfigure the pattern-based guard band 600 and adapt its transmissionactivity accordingly. This information related to the pattern-basedguard band 600 may be signalled to the aggressor. For example, theinformation may be signaled by a victim such as the second node 512 insome embodiments, another aggressor, or the third node 513.

In some embodiments, the first node 511 may receive information from atleast one of the second node 512 and a third node 513 in the wirelesscommunications network 500, the information enabling a configuring ofthe pattern-based guard band 600.

Methods of performing the receiving step are described below in furtherdetail under the subheading “Method of Signaling Means and NodesInvolved in Communication of the Information Related to Pattern-BasedGuard Bands”. This section also contains a description of examples ofthe information received in this step.

Action 703

In this action, the first node 511, configures the pattern-based guardband 600. The pattern-based guard band 600 comprises a pattern. Thepattern comprises at least a first set of time resources 630 and asecond set of time resources 640. The first set of time resources 630 isassociated with the first guard band configuration 610. The second setof time resources 640 is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration 620, wherein thesecond guard band configuration 620 is different from the first guardband configuration 610. In some embodiments, the second set of timeresources 640 is associated with no guard band configuration. In otherembodiments, the second set of time resources 640 is associated with thesecond guard band configuration 620, wherein the second guard bandconfiguration 620 is different from the first guard band configuration610.

In some of these embodiments, at least one of the first set of timeresources 630 and the second set of time resources 640 comprises atleast one of: a time slot, a subframe and a radio frame.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be adaptively configured based onat least one of: time- and/or frequency-varying aggressor interferencefrom an aggressor system, amount of impact on a victim system ofdifferent transmissions in the aggressor system, time- and/orfrequency-varying victim signal receptions in the victim system, andsensitivity to the aggressor interference of different victim signalreceptions in the victim system.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be associated with at least one of:a DownLink, DL, or UpLink, UL, transmission, a duplex configuration inaggressor or victim, a UL-DL Time Division Duplex configuration, atransmit activity pattern in an aggressor or a victim, a receive patternin a victim, and a specific signal of a victim or an aggressor.

In some embodiments, the pattern may further comprise information on atleast one of: pattern length, frequency information of an aggressor,multi-level pattern sequence, time unit and granularity of patternsequence, pattern repetition type, periodicity or repetition period,reference time point from where a sequence is calculated or derived,starting time point from when the pattern applies, ending time pointuntil which the pattern applies, duration of pattern, modification time,starting condition, ending condition, modification condition, transmitpower level in aggressor system, direction of applicability of guardband pattern, and location information where guard band pattern isapplied.

In some embodiments, the configuring is based on information regarding acapability of supporting guard band patterns of at least one of: thesecond node 512 and a third node 513 in the wireless communicationsnetwork 500.

In some embodiments, the configuring is performed at least one of:periodically, on a request from another node 512, 513, upon beingtriggered by an event, triggered by a condition, and upon expiry of atimer and after certain time duration.

Different embodiments of the configuring action 703 are described belowin further detail under the headings “Pattern-Based Guard Bands”,“Methods in a Node of an Aggressor System to Configure Pattern-BasedGuard Bands”, and the subheadings “Information Related to Guard BandPatterns” and “Method of Signaling Means and Nodes Involved inCommunication of the Information Related to Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

Action 704

Following the illustrating example given, in some embodiments, theaggressor system may signal the configured pattern-based guard band 600to another node, which may then apply the configured pattern-based guardband 600.

Thus, in some embodiments, the first node 511 may comprise signallingthe configured pattern-based guard band 600 to a second node 512 in thewireless communication network 500. This is an optional action.

This action is described below in further detail under the heading“Methods in a Node of an Aggressor System to Configure Pattern-BasedGuard Bands”.

Action 705

As the capability to handle, implement or configure a guard band patternmay vary among different nodes, as described later, in some embodiments,the first node 511 may report a capability of handling, implementing orconfiguring, a guard band pattern to one of: the second node 512 and thethird node 513 in the wireless communications network 500. This is anoptional action. This action may allow, for example, the receiving nodeto adapt its operation or the sending node to use guard band patterns orindicate to another node its capability associated with a guard bandpattern.

Capability of handling, implementing or configuring, a guard bandpattern is described below in further detail under the subheading “UEand Network Node Capabilities Related to Guard Band Patterns”.

Action 706

Following the illustrating example given, in some embodiments, theaggressor system may adapt its own actions according to the configuredpattern-based guard band 600 in order to mitigate fully and/or partlythis interference on the operating carrier frequency of the victimsystem. In other embodiments, the aggressor system may configure thevictim system instead to adapt at least one of its transmission and itsreception to the configured pattern-based guard band 600.

Thus, in this action, the first node 511 may configure one of the secondnode 512 and the third node 513 to adapt at least one of itstransmission and its reception to the configured pattern-based guardband 600. This is an optional action.

This action is described below in further detail under the heading“Methods in a Node of an Aggressor System to Configure Pattern-BasedGuard Bands”.

Example of embodiments of a method in the second node 512 for handling apattern-based guard band 600, will now be described with reference to aflowchart depicted in FIG. 8. The first node 511, the second node 512and the third node 513 may be comprised in the wireless communicationsnetwork 500.

In some embodiments, each of the first node 511 and the second node 512may be one of: an aggressor system and a victim system.

The detailed description of some of the following actions, which aremirror actions to those described in 701-706 for the first node 511,corresponds to the same references provided above, and will thus not berepeated here. For example, further detailed information of thepattern-based guard band is provided below under the heading“Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

In some embodiments, the guard band 600 may comprise at least one of: anunused spectrum and spectrum with restricted operation. The restrictedoperation may be typically realized by allowing the transmitter totransmit at lower power level, i.e., below a certain threshold.

As stated earlier, any of the first node 511, the second node 512 or thethird node 513 may be one of: a first radio node 514, a second radionode 515, a network node 516, or a wireless device 531, 532.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be takenin any suitable order. Dashed lines of some boxes in FIG. 8 indicatethat the action is not mandatory.

Action 801

The second node 512 may report a capability of handling, implementing orconfiguring, a guard band pattern to one of the first node 511 and thethird node 513. This is an optional action.

Action 802

In some embodiments, the second node 512 sends a request to the firstnode 511 to configure one or more guard band patterns. This is anoptional action.

Action 803

The second node 512 may send information to the first node 511, theinformation enabling the configuring of the pattern-based guard band600. This is an optional action.

Action 804

In some embodiments, the second node 512 may obtain information relatedto the pattern-based guard band 600 from at least one of: the first node511, measurements or sensing radio signals or total interferences, awireless device 531, 532, a network node 514, 515, 516, an aggressornode, the third node 513, a node serving the second node 512, apre-defined rule, and a configuration.

This action is described below in further detail under the heading“Methods in a Node or a UE of a Victim System to Adaptivelly ConfigureTransmissions and/or Receptions Responsive to a Pattern-Based GuardBand”.

Action 805

In this action, the second node 512 obtains the pattern-based guard band600 configured by the first node 511 in the wireless communicationsnetwork 500. The pattern-based guard band 600 comprises a pattern. Thepattern comprises at least a first set of time resources 630 and asecond set of time resources 640. The first set of time resources 630 isassociated with the first guard band configuration 610. The second setof time resources 640 is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration 620, wherein thesecond guard band configuration 620 is different from the first guardband configuration 610. In some embodiments, the second set of timeresources 640 is associated with no guard band configuration. In otherembodiments, the second set of time resources 640 is associated with thesecond guard band configuration 620, wherein the second guard bandconfiguration 620 is different from the first guard band configuration610.

In some of these embodiments, at least one of the first set of timeresources 630 and the second set of time resources 640 comprises atleast one of: a time slot, a subframe and a radio frame.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be adaptively configured based onat least one of: time- and/or frequency-varying aggressor interferencefrom an aggressor system, amount of impact on a victim system ofdifferent transmissions in the aggressor system, time- and/orfrequency-varying victim signal receptions in the victim system, andsensitivity to the aggressor interference of different victim signalreceptions in the victim system.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be associated with at least one of:a DownLink, DL, or UpLink, UL, transmission, a duplex configuration inaggressor or victim, a UL-DL Time Division Duplex configuration, atransmit activity pattern in an aggressor or a victim, a receive patternin a victim, and a specific signal of a victim or an aggressor.

In some embodiments, the pattern may further comprise information on atleast one of: pattern length, frequency information of an aggressor,multi-level pattern sequence, time unit and granularity of patternsequence, pattern repetition type, periodicity or repetition period,reference time point from where a sequence is calculated or derived,starting time point from when the pattern applies, ending time pointuntil which the pattern applies, duration of pattern, modification time,starting condition, ending condition, modification condition, transmitpower level in aggressor system, direction of applicability of guardband pattern, and location information where guard band pattern isapplied.

In some embodiments, the pattern-based guard band 600 is configuredbased on information regarding a capability of supporting guard bandpatterns of the second node 512 or a third node 513 in the wirelesscommunications network 500.

In some embodiments, the pattern-based guard band 600 is configured atleast one of: periodically, on a request from another node 512, 513,upon being triggered by an event, triggered by a condition, and uponexpiry of a timer or after certain time duration.

In some embodiments, the obtaining may comprise receiving aconfiguration from the first node 511. This is an optional action.

Action 806

In this action, the second node 512 adaptively configures one moreactions in response to the obtained pattern-based guard band 600.

In some embodiments, the one or more actions may comprise at least oneof: selection of a carrier for operation, operation of a victim carrier,adaptation of a bandwidth of a victim carrier, performing load balancingor traffic adaptation to move traffic between different carriers, areception, a transmission, and enabling low-interference measurementoccasions.

In some of these embodiments, enabling low-interference measurementoccasions may comprise configuring a restricted measurement pattern.

In some embodiments, the adaptation of a reception or a transmission maybe performed one of: periodically, upon a request from another node,triggered by an event, triggered by a condition, upon configuration bythe first node 511, upon expiration of a timer, and after certain timeduration.

In some embodiments, the adaptively configuring may be done so arequirement is met.

Example of embodiments of a method in a third node 513 for handling apattern-based guard band 600, will now be described with reference to aflowchart depicted in FIG. 9. The third node 513 is comprised in thewireless communications network 500.

In some embodiments, the third node 513 may be one of an aggressorsystem and a victim system.

The detailed description of some of the following actions, which aremirror actions to those described in 701-706 for the first node 511,corresponds to the same references provided above, and will thus not berepeated here. For example, further detailed information of thepattern-based guard band is provided below under the heading“Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

In some embodiments, the guard band 600 may comprise at least one of: anunused spectrum and spectrum with restricted operation.

As stated earlier, any of the first node 511, the second node 512 or thethird node 513 is one of: a first radio node 514, a second radio node515, a network node 516, or a wireless device 531, 532.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be takenin any suitable order. Dashed lines of some boxes in FIG. 9 indicatethat the action is not mandatory.

Action 901

In this action, the third node 513 may report a capability of handling,implementing or configuring, a guard band pattern to one of the secondnode 512 and the first node 511 in the wireless communications network500. This is an optional action.

Action 902

In this action, the third node 513 sends a request to a first node 511in the wireless communications network 500 to configure a pattern-basedguard band 600. The pattern-based guard band 600 comprises a pattern.The pattern comprises at least a first set of time resources 630 and asecond set of time resources 640. The first set of time resources 630 isassociated with the first guard band configuration 610. The second setof time resources 640 is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration 620, wherein thesecond guard band configuration 620 is different from the first guardband configuration 610. In some embodiments, the second set of timeresources 640 is associated with no guard band configuration. In otherembodiments, the second set of time resources 640 is associated with thesecond guard band configuration 620, wherein the second guard bandconfiguration 620 is different from the first guard band configuration610.

In some embodiments, the guard band 600 may comprise at least one of: anunused spectrum and spectrum with restricted operation.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first set of time resources 630and the second set of time resources 640 may comprise at least one of: atime slot, a subframe and a radio frame.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be adaptively configured based onat least one of: time- and/or frequency-varying aggressor interferencefrom an aggressor system, amount of impact on a victim system ofdifferent transmissions in the aggressor system, time- and/orfrequency-varying victim signal receptions in the victim system, andsensitivity to the aggressor interference of different victim signalreceptions in the victim system.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be associated with at least one of:a DownLink, DL, or UpLink, UL, transmission, a duplex configuration inaggressor or victim, a UL-DL Time Division Duplex configuration, atransmit activity pattern in an aggressor or a victim, a receive patternin a victim, and a specific signal of a victim or an aggressor.

In some embodiments, the pattern may further comprise information on atleast one of: pattern length, frequency information of an aggressor,multi-level pattern sequence, time unit and granularity of patternsequence, pattern repetition type, periodicity or repetition period,reference time point from where a sequence is calculated or derived,starting time point from when the pattern applies, ending time pointuntil which the pattern applies, duration of pattern, modification time,starting condition, ending condition, modification condition, transmitpower level in aggressor system, direction of applicability of guardband pattern, and location information where guard band pattern isapplied.

Action 903

This is an optional action. In some embodiments, the third node 513 maysend information to the first node 511, the information enabling theconfiguring of the pattern-based guard band 600.

Action 904

This is an optional action. In some embodiments, the third node 513 mayobtain information related to the pattern-based guard band 600 from atleast one of: the first node 511, measurements or sensing radio signalsor total interferences, a wireless device 531, 532, a network node 514,515, 516, an aggressor node, the third node 513, a node serving thesecond node 512, a pre-defined rule, and a configuration.

Action 905

This is an optional action. In some embodiments, the third node 513 mayreceive a configuration from the first node 511 to adapt at least one oftransmission and reception to the configured pattern-based guard band600.

Action 906

This is an optional action. In some embodiments, the third node 513 maysignal the configured pattern-based guard band 600 to a second node 512in the wireless communication network 500.

This action is described below in further detail under the heading“Methods in a Node of an Aggressor System to Configure Pattern-BasedGuard Bands”.

Action 907

This is an optional action. In some embodiments, the third node 513 mayapply the configured pattern-based guard band 600.

To perform the method actions in the first node 511 described above inrelation to FIG. 7 for handling a pattern-based guard band 600, thefirst node 511 comprises the following arrangement depicted in FIG. 10.The first node 511 is adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network 500.

In some embodiments, the first node 511 may be one of: an aggressorsystem and a victim system.

The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to thesame references provided above, in relation to the actions described forthe first node 511, and will thus not be repeated here. For example,further detailed information of the pattern-based guard band is providedbelow under the heading “Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

Any of the first node 511, the second node 512 or the third node 513 isone of: a first radio node 514, a second radio node 515, a network node516, or a wireless device 531, 532.

The first node 511 comprises a configuring circuit 1001 configured toconfigure the pattern-based guard band 600, the pattern-based guard band600 comprising a pattern, the pattern comprising at least a first set oftime resources 630 and a second set of time resources 640, wherein thefirst set of time resources 630 is associated with a first guard bandconfiguration 610 and the second set of time resources 640 is associatedwith one of: no guard band configuration and a second guard bandconfiguration 620, wherein the second guard band configuration 620 isdifferent from the first guard band configuration 610.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1001 circuit may be furtherconfigured to adaptively configure the pattern based on at least one of:time- and/or frequency-varying aggressor interference from an aggressorsystem, amount of impact on a victim system of different transmissionsin the aggressor system, time- and/or frequency-varying victim signalreceptions in the victim system, and sensitivity to the aggressorinterference of different victim signal receptions in the victim system.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1001 circuit may be furtherconfigured to configure based on information regarding a capability ofsupporting guard band patterns of at least one of: the second node 512and a third node 513, the third node 513 being adapted to be comprisedin the wireless communications network 500.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1001 circuit may be furtherconfigured to configure at least one of: periodically, on a request fromanother node 512, 513, upon being triggered by an event, triggered by acondition, and upon expiry of a timer and after certain time duration.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1001 circuit may be furtherconfigured to configure one of the second node 512 and a third node 513adapted to be comprised in the wireless communications network 500 toadapt at least one of its transmission and its reception to theconfigured pattern-based guard band 600.

In some embodiments, the guard band 600 may comprise at least one of: anunused spectrum and spectrum with restricted operation.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first set of time resources 630and the second set of time resources 640 may comprise at least one of: atime slot, a subframe and a radio frame.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be associated with at least one of:a DownLink, DL, or UpLink, UL, transmission, a duplex configuration inaggressor or victim, a UL-DL Time Division Duplex configuration, atransmit activity pattern in an aggressor or a victim, a receive patternin a victim, and a specific signal of a victim or an aggressor.

In some embodiments, the pattern may further comprise information on atleast one of: pattern length, frequency information of an aggressor,multi-level pattern sequence, time unit and granularity of patternsequence, pattern repetition type, periodicity or repetition period,reference time point from where a sequence is calculated or derived,starting time point from when the pattern applies, ending time pointuntil which the pattern applies, duration of pattern, modification time,starting condition, ending condition, modification condition, transmitpower level in aggressor system, direction of applicability of guardband pattern, and location information where guard band pattern isapplied.

In some embodiments, the first node 511 may also comprise a signalingcircuit 1002 configured to signal the configured pattern-based guardband 600 to a second node 512 adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunication network 500.

In some embodiments, the first node 511 may also comprise a reportingcircuit 1003 configured to report a capability of handling, implementingor configuring, a guard band pattern to one of: the second node 512 anda third node 513 adapted to be comprised in the wireless communicationsnetwork 500.

In some embodiments, the first node 511 may also comprise a receivingcircuit 1004 configured to receive a request from at least one of thesecond node 512 and a third node 513 adapted to be comprised in thewireless communications network 500 to configure one or more guard bandpatterns.

In some embodiments, the receiving circuit 1004 may be furtherconfigured to receive information from at least one of the second node512 and a third node 513 adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network 500, the information enabling the configuring ofthe pattern-based guard band 600.

The embodiments herein for handling a pattern-based guard band 600 maybe implemented through one or more processors, such as a processingcircuit 1005 in the first node 511 depicted in FIG. 10, together withcomputer program code for performing the functions and actions of theembodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also beprovided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of adata carrier carrying computer program code for performing theembodiments herein when being loaded into the in the first node 511. Onesuch carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It may be howeverfeasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computerprogram code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on aserver and downloaded to the first node 511.

The first node 511 may further comprise a memory circuit 1006 comprisingone or more memory units. The memory circuit 1006 may be arranged to beused to store data such as, the information obtained, determined,received, sent, signalled or adapted by the processing circuit 1005 inrelation to applications to perform the methods herein when beingexecuted in the first node 511. Memory circuit 1006 may be incommunication with the processing circuit 1005. Any of the otherinformation processed by the processing circuit 1005 may also be storedin the memory circuit 1006.

In some embodiments, information such as information from the second orthird nodes 512, 513 may be received through a receiving port 1007. Insome embodiments, the receiving port 1007 may be, for example, connectedto the one or more antennas in the first node 511. In other embodiments,the first node 511 may receive information from another structure in thewireless communications network 500 through the receiving port 1007.Since the receiving port 1007 may be in communication with theprocessing circuit 1005, the receiving port 1007 may then send thereceived information to the processing circuit 1005. The receiving port1007 may also be configured to receive other information.

The information configured, signalled, reported or received by theprocessing circuit 1005 in relation to the pattern-based guard band 600,may be stored in the memory circuit 1006 which, as stated earlier, maybe in communication with the processing circuit 1005 and the receivingport 1007.

The processing circuit 1005 may be further configured to send, report orsignal information, such as information on capability to handle theinformation related to a guard band pattern, to the second node 512 orto the third node 513, through a sending port 1008, which may be incommunication with the processing circuit 1005, and the memory circuit1006.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the configuringcircuit 1001, the signalling circuit 1002, the reporting circuit 1003,and the receiving circuit 1004 described above may refer to acombination of analog and digital circuits, and/or one or moreprocessors configured with software and/or firmware (e.g., stored inmemory) that, when executed by the one or more processors such as theprocessing circuit 1005, perform as described above. One or more ofthese processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be includedin a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or severalprocessors and various digital hardware may be distributed among severalseparate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into asystem-on-a-chip (SoC).

To perform the method actions in the second node 512 described above inrelation to FIG. 8 for handling a pattern-based guard band 600, thesecond node 512 comprises the following arrangement depicted in FIG. 11.The second node 512 is adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network 500.

In some embodiments, each of the first node 511 and the second node 512may be one of: an aggressor system and a victim system.

The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to thesame references provided above, in relation to the actions described forthe first node 511, and will thus not be repeated here. For example,further detailed information of the pattern-based guard band is providedbelow under the heading “Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

Any of the first node 511, the second node 512 or the third node 513 isone of: a first radio node 514, a second radio node 515, a network node516, or a wireless device 531, 532.

The second node 512 comprises an obtaining circuit 1101 configured toobtain a configured pattern-based guard band 600, the pattern-basedguard band 600 comprising a pattern, the pattern comprising at least afirst set of time resources 630 and a second set of time resources 640,wherein the first set of time resources 630 is associated with a firstguard band configuration 610 and the second set of time resources 640 isassociated with one of: no guard band configuration and a second guardband configuration 620, wherein the second guard band configuration 620is different from the first guard band configuration 610, wherein thepattern-based guard band 600 is configured by a first node 511 adaptedto be comprised in the wireless communications network 500.

In some embodiments, the guard band 600 may comprise at least one of: anunused spectrum and spectrum with restricted operation.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first set of time resources 630and the second set of time resources 640 may comprise at least one of: atime slot, a subframe and a radio frame.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be associated with at least one of:a DownLink, DL, or UpLink, UL, transmission, a duplex configuration inaggressor or victim, a UL-DL Time Division Duplex configuration, atransmit activity pattern in an aggressor or a victim, a receive patternin a victim, and a specific signal of a victim or an aggressor.

In some embodiments, the pattern may further comprise information on atleast one of: pattern length, frequency information of an aggressor,multi-level pattern sequence, time unit and granularity of patternsequence, pattern repetition type, periodicity or repetition period,reference time point from where a sequence is calculated or derived,starting time point from when the pattern applies, ending time pointuntil which the pattern applies, duration of pattern, modification time,starting condition, ending condition, modification condition, transmitpower level in aggressor system, direction of applicability of guardband pattern, and location information where guard band pattern isapplied.

In some embodiments, the obtaining 1101 circuit may be furtherconfigured to receive a configuration from the first node 511.

In some embodiments, the obtaining 1101 circuit may be furtherconfigured to obtain information related to the pattern-based guard band600 from at least one of: the first node 511, measurements or sensingradio signals or total interferences, a wireless device 531, 532, anetwork node 514, 515, 516, an aggressor node, the third node 513, anode serving the second node 512, a pre-defined rule, and aconfiguration.

The second node 512 comprises a configuring circuit 1102 configured toadaptively configure one more actions in response to the obtainedpattern-based guard band 600.

In some embodiments, the one or more actions may comprise at least oneof: selection of a carrier for operation, operation of a victim carrier,adaptation of a bandwidth of a victim carrier, performing load balancingor traffic adaptation to move traffic between different carriers, areception, a transmission, and enabling low-interference measurementoccasions.

In some of these embodiments, enabling low-interference measurementoccasions may comprise configuring a restricted measurement pattern.

In some embodiments, the adaptation of a reception or a transmission maybe performed one of: periodically, upon a request from another node,triggered by an event, triggered by a condition, upon configuration bythe first node 511, upon expiration of a timer, and after certain timeduration.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1102 circuit may be furtherconfigured to adaptively configure the pattern based on at least one of:time- and/or frequency-varying aggressor interference from an aggressorsystem, amount of impact on a victim system of different transmissionsin the aggressor system, time- and/or frequency-varying victim signalreceptions in the victim system, and sensitivity to the aggressorinterference of different victim signal receptions in the victim system.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1102 circuit may be furtherconfigured to configure based on information regarding a capability ofsupporting guard band patterns of the second node 512 or a third node513 adapted to be comprised in the wireless communications network 500.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1102 circuit may be furtherconfigured to configure at least one of: periodically, on a request fromanother node 512, 513, upon being triggered by an event, triggered by acondition, and upon expiry of a timer or after certain time duration.

In some embodiments, the configuring 1102 circuit may be furtherconfigured to adaptively configure so a requirement is met.

In some embodiments, the second node 512 may also comprise a reportingcircuit 903 configured to report a capability of handling, implementingor configuring, a guard band pattern to one of the first node 511 andthe third node 513.

In some embodiments, the second node 512 may also comprise a sendingcircuit 904 configured to send a request to the first node 511 toconfigure one or more guard band patterns.

In some embodiments, the sending 1104 circuit may be further configuredto send information to the first node 511, the information enabling theconfiguring of the pattern-based guard band 600.

The embodiments herein for handling a pattern-based guard band 600 maybe implemented through one or more processors, such as a processingcircuit 1105 in the second node 512 depicted in FIG. 11, together withcomputer program code for performing the functions and actions of theembodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also beprovided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of adata carrier carrying computer program code for performing theembodiments herein when being loaded into the in the second node 512.One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It may be howeverfeasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computerprogram code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on aserver and downloaded to the second node 512.

The second node 512 may further comprise a memory circuit 1106comprising one or more memory units. The memory circuit 1106 may bearranged to be used to store data such as, the information obtained,configured, reported, or sent by the processing circuit 1105 in relationto applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in thesecond node 512. Memory circuit 1106 may be in communication with theprocessing circuit 1105. Any of the other information processed by theprocessing circuit 1105 may also be stored in the memory circuit 1106.

In some embodiments, information from the first or third nodes 511, 513may be received through a receiving port 1107. In some embodiments, thereceiving port 1107 may be, for example, connected to the one or moreantennas in the second node 512. In other embodiments, the second node512 may receive information from another structure in the wirelesscommunications network 500 through the receiving port 1107. Since thereceiving port 1107 may be in communication with the processing circuit1105, the receiving port 1107 may then send the received information tothe processing circuit 1105. The receiving port 1107 may also beconfigured to receive other information.

The information obtained, configured, reported, or sent by theprocessing circuit 1105 in relation to, the information related to thepattern-based guard band 600, may be stored in the memory circuit 1106which, as stated earlier, may be in communication with the processingcircuit 1105 and the receiving port 1107.

The processing circuit 1105 may be further configured to send or signalinformation, such as information on capability to handle the informationrelated to the guard band, to the first node 511 or to the third node513, through a sending port 1108, which may be in communication with theprocessing circuit 1105, and the memory circuit 1106.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the obtaining circuit1101, the configuring circuit 1102, the reporting circuit 1103 and thesending circuit 1104 described above may refer to a combination ofanalog and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configuredwith software and/or firmware (e.g., stored in memory) that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors such as the processing circuit1105, perform as described above. One or more of these processors, aswell as the other digital hardware, may be included in a singleapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or several processorsand various digital hardware may be distributed among several separatecomponents, whether individually packaged or assembled into asystem-on-a-chip (SoC).

To perform the method actions in the third node 513 described above inrelation to FIG. 9 for handling a pattern-based guard band 600, thethird node 513 comprises the following arrangement depicted in FIG. 12.The third node 513 is adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network 500.

In some embodiments, the third node 513 may be one of an aggressorsystem and a victim system.

The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to thesame references provided above, in relation to the actions described forthe first node 511, and will thus not be repeated here. For example,further detailed information of the pattern-based guard band is providedbelow under the heading “Pattern-Based Guard Bands”.

Any of the first node 511, the second node 512 or the third node 513 isone of: a first radio node 514, a second radio node 515, a network node516, or a wireless device 531, 532.

The third node 513 comprises an sending circuit 1201 configured to senda request to a first node 511 adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network 500, to configure a pattern-based guard band 600,the pattern-based guard band 600 comprising a pattern, the patterncomprising at least a first set of time resources 630 and a second setof time resources 640 wherein the first set of time resources 630 isassociated with a first guard band configuration 610 and the second setof time resources 640 is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration 620, wherein thesecond guard band configuration 620 is different from the first guardband configuration 610.

In some embodiments, the guard band 600 may comprise at least one of: anunused spectrum and spectrum with restricted operation.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first set of time resources 630and the second set of time resources 640 may comprise at least one of: atime slot, a subframe and a radio frame.

In some embodiments, the pattern may be associated with at least one of:a DownLink, DL, or UpLink, UL, transmission, a duplex configuration inaggressor or victim, a UL-DL Time Division Duplex configuration, atransmit activity pattern in an aggressor or a victim, a receive patternin a victim, and a specific signal of a victim or an aggressor.

In some embodiments, the pattern may further comprise information on atleast one of: pattern length, frequency information of an aggressor,multi-level pattern sequence, time unit and granularity of patternsequence, pattern repetition type, periodicity or repetition period,reference time point from where a sequence is calculated or derived,starting time point from when the pattern applies, ending time pointuntil which the pattern applies, duration of pattern, modification time,starting condition, ending condition, modification condition, transmitpower level in aggressor system, direction of applicability of guardband pattern, and location information where guard band pattern isapplied.

In some embodiments, the sending circuit 1201 may be further configuredto send information to the first node 511, the information enabling theconfiguring of the pattern-based guard band 600.

In some embodiments, the third node 513 may also comprise an applyingcircuit 1202 configured to apply the configured pattern-based guard band600.

In some embodiments, the third node 513 may also comprise a signallingcircuit 1203 configured to signal the configured pattern-based guardband 600 to a second node 512 adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunication network 500.

In some embodiments, the third node 513 may also comprise a reportingcircuit 1304 configured to report a capability of handling, implementingor configuring, a guard band pattern to one of the second node 512 andthe first node 511 adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network 500.

In some embodiments, the third node 513 may also comprise a receivingcircuit 1205 configured to receive a configuration from the first node511 to adapt at least one of transmission and reception to theconfigured pattern-based guard band 600.

In some embodiments, the third node 513 may also comprise an obtainingcircuit 1206 configured to obtain information related to thepattern-based guard band 600 from at least one of: the first node 511,measurements or sensing radio signals or total interferences, a wirelessdevice 531, 532, a network node 514, 515, 516, an aggressor node, thethird node 513, a node serving the second node 512, a pre-defined rule,and a configuration.

The embodiments herein for handling a pattern-based guard band 600 maybe implemented through one or more processors, such as a processingcircuit 1207 in the third node 513 depicted in FIG. 10, together withcomputer program code for performing the functions and actions of theembodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also beprovided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of adata carrier carrying computer program code for performing theembodiments herein when being loaded into the in the third node 513. Onesuch carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It may be howeverfeasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computerprogram code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on aserver and downloaded to the third node 513.

The third node 513 may further comprise a memory circuit 1208 comprisingone or more memory units. The memory circuit 1208 may be arranged to beused to store data such as, the information requested, received, sent,or adapted by the processing circuit 1207 in relation to applications toperform the methods herein when being executed in the third node 513.Memory circuit 1208 may be in communication with the processing circuit1207. Any of the other information processed by the processing circuit1207 may also be stored in the memory circuit 1208.

In some embodiments, information from the first or second nodes 511, 512may be received through a receiving port 1209. In other embodiments, thethird node 513 may receive information from another structure in thewireless communications network 500 through the receiving port 1209.Since the receiving port 1209 may be in communication with theprocessing circuit 1207, the receiving port 1209 may then send thereceived information to the processing circuit 1207. The receiving port1209 may also be configured to receive other information.

The information sent, applied, signalled, reported, received, andobtained by the processing circuit 1207 in relation to, the informationrelated to the pattern-based guard band 600, may be stored in the memorycircuit 1208 which, as stated earlier, may be in communication with theprocessing circuit 1207 and the receiving port 1209.

The processing circuit 1207 may be further configured to send or signalinformation, such as information on capability to handle the informationrelated to the guard band, to the first node 511 or to the second node512, through a sending port 1210, which may be in communication with theprocessing circuit 1207, and the memory circuit 1208.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the sending circuit1201, the applying circuit 1202, the signalling circuit 1203, thereporting circuit 1304, the receiving circuit 1205 and the obtainingcircuit 1206 described above may refer to a combination of analog anddigital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with softwareand/or firmware (e.g., stored in memory) that, when executed by the oneor more processors such as the processing circuit 1207, perform asdescribed above. One or more of these processors, as well as the otherdigital hardware, may be included in a single application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or several processors and various digitalhardware may be distributed among several separate components, whetherindividually packaged or assembled into a system-on-a-chip (SoC).

When using the word “comprise” or “comprising” it shall be interpretedas non-limiting, i.e. meaning “consist at least of”.

The embodiments herein are not limited to the above described preferredembodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may beused. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limitingthe scope of the invention, which is defined by the appending claims.

According to some embodiments discussed herein, methods in a node, suchas the first node 511, of an aggressor system may configure at least onepattern-based guard band, such as pattern-based guard band 600, whichincludes at least a pattern sequence and a guard band used in theaggressor system, a victim system, such as the second node 512, or boththe aggressor and victim systems. Moreover, the pattern-based guardband, such as pattern-based guard band 600, may be used to mitigatefully and/or partly interference due to the aggressor system's unwantedemissions into the operating carrier frequency of a victim system. Theconfiguration in an aggressor node, such as the first node 511, may bebased on:

-   -   (1) A pre-defined set of parameters, rules, etc. associated with        pattern-based guard bands, such as pattern-based guard band 600;        and/or    -   (2) Received information from another node, such as the second        node 512 or the third node 513, or a U E, such as the first        wireless device 531 or the second wireless device 532.

According to some other embodiments, methods in a node or UE of a victimsystem, such as the second node 512, may adaptively configure signaltransmissions and/or receptions responsive to a pattern-based guardband, such as pattern-based guard band 600, used in the correspondingaggressor system, such as the first node 511. The configuration in avictim node such as the second node 512, may be based on:

-   -   (1) A pre-defined set of parameters, rules, etc. associated with        signal transmissions and/or receptions responsive to a        pattern-based guard band, such as pattern-based guard band 600;        and/or    -   (2) Received information from another node, such as the second        node 512 or the third node 513, or a UE, such as the first        wireless device 531 or the second wireless device 532.

According to some other embodiment, methods in a node or UE of anaggressor system, such as the first node 511, may include reporting acapability (of the node or UE, such as the first node 511, of theaggressor system) of handling and implementing to another node, such asthe second node 512 or the third node 513, (e.g., a serving node, aneighboring node, etc.), which reporting is performed proactively orbased on a request from another node, such as the second node 512 or thethird node 513.

According to still other embodiments, methods in a node or UE of anaggressor system, such as the first node 511, may include reporting acapability (of the node or UE, such as the first node 511, of theaggressor system) in terms of ‘handling, implementing or configuring aguard band pattern’ to another node, such as the second node 512 or thethird node 513, (e.g., a serving node, a neighboring node, etc.), whichreporting is performed proactively or based on a request from anothernode.

According to yet other embodiments, methods in a node or UE, such as thesecond node 512 or the third node 513, of a victim system may includereporting a capability (of the node or UE of the victim system) in termsof ‘handling, implementing or configuring a pattern based signaltransmission and/or reception in a victim system responsive to aaggressor node's guard band pattern’ to another node, such as the firstnode 511, the second node 512 or the third node 513, (e.g., servingnode, neighboring node, etc.), which reporting is performed proactivelyor based on a request from another node, such as the first node 511, thesecond node 512 or the third node 513.

Generalizations

Definitions explained in sections below may apply to any embodimentdescribed in the current specification, including the DetailedDescription herein, as well as in the associated Claims, Figures andSummary sections.

As used herein, a wireless communications system, such as wirelesscommunications network 500, refers to any system capable of sendingand/or receiving wireless signals (e.g., a cellular, radio, or/orsatellite system). In a co-existence scenario, a wireless communicationssystem may be a victim or an aggressor system. A victim or an aggressorsystem may include all or a subset of radio nodes of a radio network. Inanother example, a victim or an aggressor system may include all or asubset of UEs communicating with the respective radio network. In yetanother example, an LTE network may be regarded as a victim systemincluding an eNodeB (also referred to as a base station), LTE UE, andother nodes, and an HSPA network may be regarded as an aggressor systemincluding NodeBs, RNCs, HSPA UEs, etc. Any reference to a wirelesscommunications system herein, is to be understood to apply to wirelesscommunications network 500.

A guard band as used herein may alternatively be referred to as aprotection band. A guard band may be configured statically,semi-statically, or dynamically. In the description that follows, aguard band is used indistinctively as a pattern-based guard band, suchas pattern-based guard band 600. Any reference in the description belowto a guard band or a pattern-based guard band is to be understood toapply as well to pattern-based guard band 600.

The terms wireless terminal/device, such as the first wireless device531 and the second wireless device 532, and UE may be usedinterchangeably in the following description. Any reference to awireless device (or UE) herein, is to be understood to apply to any ofthe first wireless device 531 and the second wireless device 532. A UEmay include any device equipped with a radio interface that is capableof at least generating and transmitting a radio signal to a radionetwork node. Note that even some radio network nodes (e.g., a femto B,also referred to as a home BS) may also be equipped with a UE-likeinterface.

A radio network node herein, such as the first radio node 514 and thesecond radio node 515 depicted in FIGS. 5 a-d, may include a radio nodeoperating or at least transmitting RF signals to a UE or performing ULmeasurements in one or more frequencies, carrier frequencies, and/orfrequency bands. Any reference to a radio network node herein, is to beunderstood to apply to any of the first radio node 514 and the secondradio node 515. More particularly, the radio node may be capable of CA(carrier aggregation), and it may also be a single-RAT (single RadioAccess Technology) or multi-RAT (multi RAT) or multi-standard node(e.g., using the same or different base band modules for differentRATs). Some examples of radio nodes include: a radio base station (e.g.,an LTE eNodeB); a measurement unit performing measurements on UL signals(e.g., a Location Measurement Unit (LMU) or location measurement unitthat is used for positioning) and/or DL signals; a radio nodetransmitting DL signals (e.g., a beacon device); and/or UL signals,relays, mobile relays, repeaters, sensors, etc.

Typically, a radio node may have an associated cell, such as the firstcell 521 and the second cell 522, or may create one or more of its owncells. A radio node, however, may also be a radio node which does notcreate its own cell (e.g., a measurement unit or a node receivingsignals such as a relay or repeater). The radio node may also be a radionode (e.g., eNodeB, RRU, relay, etc.) sharing the cell Identifier (ID)with another radio node (e.g., an eNodeB, RRU, relay, etc.).

Any reference to a radio node herein, is to be understood to apply toany of the first wireless device 531, the second wireless device 532,the first radio node 514 and the second radio node 515, unless otherwisenoted.

A cell serving a UE is the serving cell for that UE. Multiple servingcells are possible with carrier aggregation, so “a serving cell” may be,in general, used throughout the present specification for CA and non-CAsystems. Wth CA, a primary cell (PCell) is one example of a servingcell, and another example is a secondary cell (SCell).

As used herein, the terms “centralized network management node” and“coordinating node” refer to network node, such as the network node 516depicted in FIGS. 5 a-d, which may also be a radio network node, whichcoordinates radio resources with one or more radio network nodes and/orUEs. Some examples of a coordinating node include a network monitoringand configuration node, an OSS (operation and support system) node, O&M(operation and maintenance) node, MDT (Minimization of Drive Tests)node, SON (Semantic Overlay Network) node, positioning node, a gatewaynode (e.g., a Packet Data Network Gateway or P-GW), or Serving Gateway(S-GW) network node, or a femto gateway node, a macro node coordinatingsmaller radio nodes associated with it, etc.

A network node used herein, such as the first radio node 514, the secondradio node 515, and the network node 516 depicted in FIGS. 5 a-d, mayrefer to a radio node (as described above, such as the first radio node514 and the second radio node 515 depicted in FIGS. 5 a-d, and such asthe first wireless device 531 and the second wireless device 532depicted in FIGS. 5 a-d), a radio network node in general (e.g., RNC orradio network controller), a core network node, or any node in thenetwork such as a positioning node (e.g., an E-SMLC also referred to asa Serving Mobile Location Center, or an SLC), MDT node, O&M, SON node, agateway node, MME (Mobility Management Node), any coordinating node,such as the network node 516 depicted in FIGS. 5 a-d, etc. Any referenceto a network node herein, is to be understood to apply to any of thefirst wireless device 531, the second wireless device 531, the firstradio node 514, the second radio node 515, and the network node 516,unless otherwise noted.

A network node or a UE or wireless device, as described above, arecommonly referred to as a node.

Any reference to a third node, such as the third node 513, herein, is tobe understood to apply to the third node 513, unless otherwise noted.

The term signaling described herein is either via direct links orlogical links (e.g., via higher layer protocols and/or via one or morenetwork nodes, radio nodes, and/or UEs). The term signaling may meansignaling via radio links and/or fixed connection. For example,signaling from a coordinating node may pass another network node, e.g.,a radio node. The signaling from one radio node to another radio nodemay also include signaling via user equipment or another radio node oranother network node.

Embodiments of the present invention discussed herein are not limited toLTE. An aggressor and/or a victim system may be a cellular networksystem, a satellite system (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS),Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), etc.), an ad hoc network, asensor network, or any wireless communications in general. A wirelesscommunications system may also include any Radio Access Network (RAN),either single-RAT or multi-RAT. A RAT may include LTE, LTE-Advanced,UMTS, GSM, Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (cdma2000), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and/or WiFi.

Embodiments (sections) described herein may be considered as independentembodiments or may be considered in any combination with each other todescribe non-limiting examples of the current invention.

First Embodiments Pattern-Based Guard Bands

(Pattern-Based Guard Band embodiments may also use, fully or in parts,embodiments described in other sections and/or elements thereof.)

According to some embodiments presented herein, dynamic guard bandconfiguration follows a certain pattern indicating time resources (e.g.,subframes in LTE), frequency resources (e.g., subbands), or both timeand frequency resources. The guard band may be configured in anaggressor system, in a victim system, or in both aggressor and victimsystems (e.g., shared in a way that both systems configure a part, e.g.,in frequency and/or in time, of the guard band, and this sharing may bebased e.g. on operators agreement).

A purpose of the guard band is to protect the victim system fromunwanted emissions (e.g., out-of-band emissions or spurious emissionssuch as harmonics) generated by the frequencies used by the aggressorsystem into the frequencies used by the receiver of the victim system.Both aggressor and victim systems operate using different carrierfrequencies, typically in adjacent or closely located carriers.

The guard band pattern may be: pre-defined (e.g., by requirements orcertain rules); statically, semi-statically, or dynamically configured;and/or received from another node. The guard band pattern may beadaptively configured to account for any one or more of:

-   -   (1) Time-varying and/or frequency-varying aggressor interference        from the aggressor system (e.g., configuring a guard band when        high interference is expected from the aggressor system);    -   (2) The amount of impact on a victim system of different        transmissions in the aggressor system (e.g., different signals        or different channels may have relatively lower or relatively        higher impact);    -   (3) Time- and/or frequency-varying victim signal receptions in        the victim system; and/or    -   (4) Sensitivity to the aggressor interference of different        victim signal receptions in the victim system (e.g., some        received signals such as signals received at very low power may        be more sensitive to the aggressor interference, and some        examples of such signals are weak neighbor cell signals from        distant sites or GPS signals measured for positioning purposes).

Some examples of an aggressor system include a radar system, a GNSS(Global Navigation Satellite System), a cellular system, a WiFi system,etc. Some examples of a victim system include a satellite system, aradar system, a cellular system, a WiFi system, etc. The pattern may beconfigured for downlink transmissions, for uplink transmissions, or forboth downlink and uplink transmissions. Some examples of pattern-basedguard bands are shown in FIGS. 6 a, 6 b, and 6 c, as mentioned earlier.Although the guard bands are configured in the aggressor systembandwidth in embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 6 a-c, guard bands mayalso/alternatively be configured, at least in part, in the victimsystem.

Information Related to Guard Band Patterns

Some examples of general pattern characteristics include: patternsequence (e.g., a string of bits); pattern length (e.g., the bit stringlength); pattern periodicity (may be the same as or different frompattern length); reference time point from where the pattern shall becalculated (e.g., subframe #0 of SFN 0 of a reference cell); and/orapplicability time point (e.g., from a specific time or immediately uponreceiving). A guard band pattern may be described, for example, using: apattern sequence indicative of signal transmission or activity levels;and/or minimum information associated with the guard band used in thefrequency(ies) over which the aggressor system operates to protect thefrequency(ies) over which the victim system operates.

The pattern may also include additional parameters and more detailedinformation. Examples of such parameters and detailed informationinclude: frequency information of the aggressor system; patternsequence; pattern repetition type; periodicity or repetition period;reference time point from where the sequence is calculated or derived;starting time point from when the pattern applies; ending time pointuntil which the pattern applies; duration of the pattern (e.g., a totaltime period over which the pattern applies); modification time; startingcondition; ending condition; modification condition; transmit powerlevel in aggressor system; direction of applicability of guard bandpattern; and/or location information where guard band pattern isapplied. These parameters are discussed in greater detail below.

Frequency information of aggressor system may include one or more of thefollowing:

-   -   (1) Carrier frequency, component carrier frequency or range of        frequencies over which a guard band pattern(s) is applied, such        as an ARFCN (Absolute RF Channel Number) number or range of        ARFNC numbers of carriers;    -   (2) Bandwidth type of guard band in a pattern, which may be a        homogeneous bandwidth type with a same guard band over the        entire pattern sequence (e.g., always 5 MHz), or a heterogeneous        bandwidth type where a guard band varies at least twice in a        pattern sequence (e.g., 5 MHz in first and last sets of        resources and 10 MHz on the remaining sets of resources);    -   (3) Bandwidth(s) of a guard band(s) (e.g., one bandwidth value        if the guard band is homogeneous or more than one bandwidth        value if the guard band is heterogeneous);    -   (4) Frequency band indicator(s) of frequency band(s) in which a        guard band pattern(s) shall apply; and/or    -   (5) Duplex mode of aggressor system, such as, TDD (Time Division        Duplex), FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), HD-FDD (Half Duplex        FDD), and/or variable duplex FDD.

A pattern sequence may define subframes and/or radio frames where guardbands are and are not applied. For example, ‘0101’ may indicatedifferent subframe or radio frames where ‘0’ means no guard band in theindicated period, and ‘1’ means use a guard band in the indicatedperiod. The pattern sequence may be determined autonomously by theaggressor system, may be pre-defined by a requirement or definedaccording to a rule, may be pre-configured by the network operator or acomputer program, may be determined based on the information about thevictim system, etc. Multiple pattern sequences may exist, for example,associated with different times, time and/or frequency resources,conditions, triggering events, frequencies, etc. Multi-level patternsequences may exist, for example, ‘029021 . . . ’ where ‘0’ may indicateno band, ‘1’ may indicate a first transmission level or activity level,and ‘2’ may indicate a second transmission level or activity level. Atime unit and granularity of a pattern sequence(s) may be defined asfollows:

-   -   (1) A time unit and granularity can be pre-defined or signaled        to the aggressor radio node (e.g., each bit in a sequence can be        pre-defined in terms of subframes, multiple of subframes, frame,        multiple of frames etc.);    -   (2) A time unit and granularity can be the same as a time unit        of the victim system (e.g., a subframe in LTE) or it may be the        same as a time unit of the aggressor system (e.g., a radio frame        in UMTS), or it may be simply a time period (e.g., a pattern        consisting of a sequence of units of 10 ms);    -   (3) A homogeneous time unit may mean that a same time unit        applies to all the elements of the pattern sequence (e.g. each        bit is expressed in terms of frame); and    -   (4) A heterogeneous time unit may mean that different time units        apply to at least two elements of the pattern sequence, for        example, so that one frame applies when a guard band is applied        (i.e. one frame corresponding to ‘1’) and 5 frames are applied        when no guard band (i.e. five frames corresponding to ‘0’) is        applied by the aggressor radio node.

A pattern repetition type may be periodic or aperiodic. With a periodicrepetition type, the pattern repeats after a period over which thepattern sequence is defined. With an aperiodic repetition type, one ormore characteristics of the guard band pattern may change after aduration over which a pattern sequence is defined. In one example, atcertain times the pattern sequence 101010 may change to a patternsequence 1000100. In another example, the pattern sequence 101010 may betriggered based on a condition (e.g. transmit power in aggressor systemexceeds a threshold) and may stops after one repetition.

The pattern, which may be periodic or aperiodic, may autonomously changeafter a pre-defined or configurable modification time period. Themodification time may include multiple periodic or aperiodic patterndurations. For example, two periodic patterns (10101010 and 9010010) canbe configured at the aggressor radio node. The configured periodicpattern, 10101010, for example, may be changed by the aggressor radionode to 9010010 after a modification time period of 5 seconds.

With a starting condition, a pattern may start when one or moreconditions are met (e.g., if output power of the aggressor radio nodeexceeds a threshold and/or traffic intensity is above a threshold,etc.). With an ending condition, a pattern may stop when one or morecondition is met (e.g., if output power of the aggressor radio nodefalls below a threshold and/or traffic intensity is below a thresholdetc.).

With a modification condition, the pattern (which may be periodic oraperiodic) may autonomously change after a pre-defined or configurablecondition is met. For example, two periodic patterns (10101010 and9010010) can be configured, and the configured periodic pattern,10101010, may be changed by the aggressor radio node to 9010010 providedthe output power of an aggressor radio node falls below a thresholdand/or traffic intensity falls below a threshold, etc.

Considering a transmit power level in the aggressor system, for example,no power during a guard period and normal power otherwise in theaggressor system may be represented by on/off signaling, and/or reducedpower during a guard period and normal power otherwise in the aggressorsystem may be represented by a certain transmit power offset withrespect to power of a certain signal.

Considering direction of applicability of guard band pattern, forexample, a pattern may apply to transmission on an UL carrier frequencyin FDD or HD-FDD or on a DL carrier frequency in FDD or HD-FDD or both,and/or a pattern may apply to UL transmission or DL transmission or bothin TDD.

Considering location information where guard band pattern is applied,for example, a guard band pattern may be applied by an aggressor system(e.g., a BS or UE) only if located in a certain area or region asindicated by location information or an area indicator (e.g., trackingarea ID, location area ID, a set of cell IDs, etc.), and/or a guard bandpattern may be applied by an aggressor system (e.g., a BS or UE)provided aggressor and victim systems are within a certain area orregion or distance (e.g., if an inter-site distance between theaggressor and victim base stations is less than 1 km or the path loss isabove a threshold).

The guard band pattern may also be associated, e.g., with any of thefollowing: DL and/or UL transmissions; duplex configuration in aggressoror victim (e.g., TDD, FDD, HD-FDD, variable duplex); UL-DL TDDconfiguration (e.g., TDD UL-DL subframe configuration, TDD specialsubframe configuration, etc.); transmit activity pattern in theaggressor or victim system/node; receive patterns in the victimsystem/node; and/or a specific signal(s) of the victim and/or aggressorsystem(s)/node(s).

A transmit activity pattern in the aggressor and/or victim system/nodemay be used so that a guard band pattern associated with a transmitpattern of the aggressor follows exactly or partially a transmitactivity pattern in aggressor system (e.g., a guard band is configuredin time periods when activity exceeds a certain amount). In addition orin an alternative, a guard band pattern associated with a transmitpattern of the victim may follow exactly or partially a transmitactivity pattern in the victim system/node (e.g., a guard band isconfigured in time occasions when victim system UEs are transmitting andthe UL transmissions need protection).

Receive patterns in a victim system/node may be used so that a guardband pattern associated with a receive pattern may follows exactly orpartially a receive activity pattern in the victim system/node (e.g., aguard band may be configured at time occasions when receiving weaksignals is expected). Using specific signal of a victim system/node, forexample, the guard band may be designed to protect a specific signal orchannel type(s) in the victim system/node. Using specific signal of anaggressor, for example, the guard band may be designed to protect from aspecific signal or channel type(s) transmitted in the aggressor system.

UE and Network Node Capabilities Related to Guard Band Patterns

All UEs and radio network nodes may or may not be capable of handling,configuring, and/or implementing guard band patterns. Some examples ofradio network nodes include eNodeBs, Node B's, base stations, relays,access points, LMUs (Location Measurement Units), etc. For example, allUEs and radio nodes may not be capable of dynamically or semi-staticallycreating a guard band pattern based on received information or based onpre-defined rules. Alternatively, a UE or a radio node may be capable ofhandling certain type(s) and/or characteristic(s) of guard band patterncapability.

A UE may thus indicate its capability in terms of handling the guardband pattern and associated configuration information for creation of apattern based guard band to a network node (e.g., a serving networknode, a positioning node, a core network node, etc.) or to another UE(e.g., to support a device to device, D2D, operation mode). Similarly, aradio node may indicate its capability in terms of handling the guardband pattern and associated configuration information for creation of apattern-based guard band to another network node (e.g., a neighboringnetwork node, a positioning node, a coordinating node, a relay node, acore network node, etc.)

In general, a UE or a radio node may signal its ‘pattern based guardband handling’ capability to the relevant target network node or UEindicating that it is capable of creating a guard band pattern accordingto the received instructions and/or when one or more pre-defined rulesor conditions are fulfilled. The guard band capability information mayalso include additional information. Examples of guard band patternsupporting capability are described in greater detail below.

-   -   (1) In one example, a UE or a radio node may not be capable of        handling any guard band pattern related configuration        information described in the previous section (entitled        “INFORMATION RELATED TO GUARD BAND PATTERNS”).    -   (2) In another example, a UE or a radio node may be capable of        handling only partial or a subset of the guard band pattern        related configuration information described above. For example,        a UE or a radio node may be capable of creating an aperiodic        guard band pattern (e.g., configuring the pattern only once upon        a triggering condition) with no transmission (i.e., 0 watt        power). Yet another UE or a radio node may be capable of        creating guard band pattern only periodically or aperiodically        with no transmission or with low power transmission.    -   (3) In another example, a UE or a radio node may be capable of        handling a guard band pattern(s) for a certain frequency band(s)        and/or co-existence scenario, such as a duplex mode, etc.    -   (4) In another example, a UE or a radio node may be capable of        handling a guard band(s) based on the location or geographical        area information (see the section above entitled “INFORMATION        RELATED TO GUARD BAND PATTERNS”).    -   (5) In yet another example, a UE or a radio node may be fully        capable of handling all the guard band pattern(s) related        configuration information described above.    -   (6) In yet another example, a UE or a radio node may be capable        of handling the guard band pattern related to a specific signal        type (e.g., GPS signals, radar signals, etc.).    -   (7) In yet another example, a UE or a radio node may indicate        the number of guard band patterns which they can activate or        operate in parallel. It may also indicate additional information        such as carrier frequency range and/or supported bands for        parallel operation. For example, a UE may indicate that it can        create 2 guard band patterns: one on band A and another one on        band B when operating in multi-carrier, CoMP, etc. Multiple        guard band patterns may also be supported (e.g., to protect        different signals). Multiple guard band patterns may be        associated with different pattern sequences, or may also be used        in the same band. The multiple patterns may have at least one        different characteristic.

Method of Signaling Means and Nodes Involved in Communication of theInformation Related to Pattern-Based Guard Bands

Information related to pattern-based guard bands may include any one ora combination of: information related to guard band pattern described inthe section above entitled “INFORMATION RELATED TO GUARD BAND PATTERNS”;information enabling configuring a pattern-based guard band (e.g., atransmit or receive pattern of the victim or a transmit pattern of theaggressor); information related to UE and network node capabilities ofsupporting guard band patterns; and/or indication ofactivation/deactivation or using a pattern-based guard band. Anyinformation related to pattern-based guard bands may be signaled ineither direction between: UE and a network node (e.g., a radio networknode or a core network node); two UEs; and/or two network nodes (e.g.,where any of the two network nodes may be a radio network node or a corenetwork node, or where two network nodes are core network nodes, each ofwhich may be a positioning node, a coordinating node, and/or an O&Mnode).

In the disclosure provided above, the network node may also be a radionetwork node serving and/or controlling the victim UE or the aggressorUE. The information may be signaled as uncast, multicast, and/orbroadcast, and the information may be signaled via higher-layersignaling and/or lower layer signaling.

The information may be signaled to one or more of aggressors (nodes orUE) or in general to a third node or UE to enable the aggressor toconfigure the pattern-based guard band and adapt its transmissionactivity accordingly. The information may be signaled by a victim,another aggressor, or a third node. The information may be signaled toone or more of victims (nodes or UE) or in general to a third node or UEto enable the victim to adapt victim's transmission and/or receivingaccordingly. The information may be signaled by an aggressor, anothervictim, or a third node.

As disclosed earlier in the present specification, the pattern-basedguard band may be configured in the aggressor and/or victim band.

A victim network node may also send a request to an aggressor UE or anaggressor radio network node to configure one or more guard bandpatterns. The configuration request may also be sent by a third nodewhich neither belongs to a victim or to an aggressor system (e.g., acoordinating node in a core network). The request may also includepartial or full information described in the section entitledINFORMATION RELATED TO GUARD BAND PATTERNS. Alternatively, if only arequest indication is sent, then the victim UE or network node may usepre-defined information associated with the guard band pattern. Thevictim UE or radio node may use a combination of signaled informationand pre-defined information when configuring the guard band pattern(s).

A victim system or a third node sending a request to the aggressorsystem to configure the guard band pattern may also provide informationenabling configuration of the pattern-based guard band. Such informationmay include frequency-related information used in the victim system.Such information may also provide information related to signal activityused in the victim system. This may assist the aggressor system (UE or aradio node) to create the guard band pattern(s), which may be orthogonalor quasi-orthogonal. Examples of frequency information and signaltransmit patterns used in a victim system may include frequencyinformation of the victim system and/or a signal activity pattern usingin the victim system. Frequency information of victim system, forexample, may include one or more of:

-   -   (1) a carrier frequency or range of frequencies, which are to be        protected from the aggressor system (e.g., an ARFCN number or        range of ARFCN numbers of carriers to be protected);    -   (2) channel bandwidth(s) of carrier(s);    -   (3) measurement bandwidth(s) on the carriers;    -   (4) a frequency band indicator(s) of a frequency band(s) which        needs to be protected from the aggressor system; and/or    -   (5) duplex mode of the victim system (e.g., TDD, FDD, HD-FDD,        variable duplex FDD).

A signal activity pattern used in the victim system may includeinformation such as timing and/or pattern sequences of any one or moreof: a pattern used in DL, a pattern used in UL, a signal transmitpattern, and/or a signal receive pattern.

Second Embodiments Methods in a Node of an Aggressor System to ConfigurePattern-Based Guard Bands

(Aggressor system node embodiments may also use, fully or in parts,embodiments described in other sections and/or elements thereof.)

A network node or a UE (commonly referred to as a node) may configure apattern-based guard band (such as a pattern-based guard band describedabove with respect to First Embodiments of pattern-based guard bands)periodically, responsive to a request from another node or UE (e.g., arequest from a victim system or a third node), responsive to an eventtrigger (e.g., determining a potential victim node or a need to performcertain measurements that may potentially suffer from the aggressorinterference), and/or responsive to a condition trigger (e.g., relatedto interference or performance estimation).

A pattern-based guard band may be configured based on a pre-definedrule, autonomously (e.g., based on own measurements and the availableinformation), based on the information received from a UE or networknode (e.g., an eNodeB and/or coordinating node) such as described abovein the section entitled “METHODS OF SIGNALING MEANS AND NODES INVOLVEDIN COMMUNICATION OF THE INFORMATION RELATED TO PATTERN-BASED GUARDBANDS,” or a combination thereof.

The configured pattern-based guard band may be applied by theconfiguring node (e.g., the aggressor node) or the configuring node(e.g., a coordinating node or another aggressor node) may signal theconfigured pattern information to another network node or UE which wouldapply the configured pattern. Here, and also in some other embodimentsdiscussed herein, a node may also mean a radio node or UE.

A victim node may further adapt its transmissions (e.g., scheduling,transmit patterns such as ABS pattern, DTX), and/or reception (e.g.,measurement pattern configured by eNodeB of the victim LTE system forits LTE UE receiving in DL while protecting it from radar transmissions,DRX, etc.), or the victim node be configured to do so to the configuredpattern-based guard band.

Third Embodiments Methods in a Node of a UE of a Victim System toAdaptivelly Configure Transmissions and/or Receptions Responsive to aPattern-Based Guard Band

(Victim System UE embodiments may also use, fully or in parts,embodiments described in other sections and/or elements thereof.)

According to third embodiments, the UE or the network node may obtaininformation about a pattern-based guard band (see sections relating toFirst Embodiments), and the information may be obtained, for example:using measurements or sensing radio signals or total interferences; fromanother UE or network node; from an aggressor node or a third node; fromthe serving node; and/or using a pre-defined rule or by configuration.

The node (e.g., a victim node, a coordinating node, or a serving node)or UE in a victim system may perform one or more actions while takinginto account the guard band pattern used in an aggressor system.Examples of such actions include: selection of the carriers foroperation of victim and non-victim devices/nodes/systems to accommodatea required or target traffic load in a system; operation of victimcarriers or normal operation during a time period(s) when the aggressorsystem creates a guard band; and/or adaptation of the bandwidth ofvictim carriers (e.g., measurement bandwidth) depending upon guard bandbandwidth. Adaptation of the bandwidth of victim carriers depending onguard band bandwidth may include:

-   -   (1) configuring a measurement bandwidth(s) responsive to the        pattern-based guard band (e.g., up to a channel bandwidth if the        aggressor guard band is sufficient or smaller than the channel        bandwidth or a reference bandwidth if the aggressor guard band        is not sufficient) where the configured measurement bandwidth        may also be adaptively used when aggressor interference is        expected or at time occasions when guard bands are configured;    -   (2) configuring a measurement bandwidth(s) when the guard bands        are not used (e.g., up to channel bandwidth if no aggressor        interference is expected); and/or    -   (3) Changing the measurement bandwidth to be different at time        occasions when the pattern-based guard band is used in the        aggressor system and when the guard band is not used in the        aggressor system.

Further examples of actions performed while taking into account theguard band pattern used in an aggressor system may include:

-   -   (1) Performing load balancing or traffic adaptation to move        traffic between different carriers depending upon traffic        characteristics etc. For example, high data rate traffic may be        moved to a non-victim carrier and/or time instances protected by        the pattern-based guard band.    -   (2) Transmissions that may be adaptively configured responsive        to the information about pattern-based guard band may include        data scheduling, physical signal transmissions, control channel        transmissions, low-interference subframe pattern receive pattern        or ABS pattern configuration in the victim node, transmit        activity pattern or states in the victim node, etc.    -   (3) Reception that may be adaptively configured responsive to        the information about pattern-based guard band may include        receiving data channels, control channels, system information,        physical signals, receive or measurement pattern, receive        activity states such as DRX, etc.    -   (4) Adaption for transmissions by and/or receptions at the        victim node may even be performed using a pattern based        approach. More specifically, the victim system may transmit        and/or receive signals according to a pattern which is        orthogonal to the guard band pattern used in the corresponding        aggressor system. Such a signal transmit/receive pattern in a        victim system responsive to guard band based pattern used in an        aggressor system may also include at least a pattern sequence        and reduced/minimum information related to signal        transmission/reception bandwidth. For example, assuming the        aggressor system uses a guard band pattern of 1010101. In        response, the victim system may transmit and/or receive signals        using a pattern 0101010, which is fully orthogonal to the guard        band pattern used in the aggressor system. In another example,        if the victim system has lower activity or traffic, the        aggressor and victim systems may use a guard band based pattern        of 1010101 and a transmit/receive pattern of 100001,        respectively.

The adaptation for transmissions by and/or receptions at a victimsystem/node may be performed, for example, periodically, upon a requestfrom another node or UE, triggered by an event, triggered by acondition, in accordance with Embodiments 1 and/or 2, and/or uponexpiration of a timer or after certain time duration (e.g., a timervalue or a time duration can be pre-defined or configured by anothernode).

UE and Network Node Capabilities Related to Pattern Based SignalTransmission and/or Reception

As described above, in response to pattern-based guard band, the victimsystem may transmit and/or receive signal also in the form of a pattern.But all UEs and radio network nodes may or may not be capable ofhandling and implementing pattern based signal transmission and/orreception pattern in general or in response to pattern-based guard band.

When acting as victim, for example, all UEs and radio nodes may not becapable of dynamically or semi-statically creating a pattern basedsignal transmission and/or reception based on received information orbased on pre-defined rules. Alternatively, a UE or a radio node may becapable of handling a certain type(s) and/or characteristic(s) ofpattern(s) based signal transmission and/or reception capability.Therefore a UE may indicate its capability in terms of handling patternbased signal transmission and/or reception and associated configurationinformation for creation of a pattern based signal transmission and/orreception to a network node (e.g. serving network node, a positioningnode, a core network node, etc.) or to another UE (e.g., to supportdevice to device or D2D operation mode). Similarly, a radio node mayindicate its capability in terms of handling the pattern based signaltransmission and/or reception and associated configuration informationfor creation of a pattern based signal transmission and/or reception toanother network node (e.g., neighboring network node, positioning node,a coordinating node, relay node, core network node, etc.)

The remaining description and examples provided above in the sectionentitled “UE AND NETWORK NODE CAPABILITIES RELATED TO GUARD BANDPATTERNS” also apply for UE and radio node capability in terms ofhandling of the pattern based signal transmission and/or reception.

Fourth Embodiments Using Pattern-Based Guard Bands to EnableLow-Interference Measurement Occasions (Co-Existence Enabled Elcic)

(Embodiment using pattern-based guard bands to enable low-interferencemeasurement occasions may also use, fully or partially, embodimentsdescribed in other sections and/or elements thereof.)

According to fourth embodiments, a pattern-based guard band may be usedto enable low-interference conditions for measurements, channelreception, and/or scheduling occasions on the entire or at least aportion of a victim bandwidth at specific time occasions, for all or asubset of radio nodes or UEs. An example scenario is illustrated in FIG.13 (which is an example of co-existence enabled Enhanced Inter-CellInterference Coordination or eICIC). The example of FIG. 13 is for DL,but embodiments of the invention are not limited to DL co-existence andDL patterns. Note that although 3 patterns are shown in FIG. 13,configuring the restricted measurement pattern and/or ABS pattern may beunused in some embodiments. Furthermore, at least some of the 3 patternsmay be different. In this example, and the pattern-based guard bands maybe an efficient way to allow improved/better performance for cell-edgeUEs suffering from high interference. These UEs may perform measurementsor receive DL transmissions when pattern-based guard bands areindicated/used. At the same time, scheduling of center UEs with betterinterference conditions may be prioritized when pattern-based guardbands are not indicated and/or not used.

This configuration may be resource-efficient (e.g., when only sometransmitted/received signals need protection and/or when the aggressorcell radio resources are scarce and are needed to serve high-loadtraffic in the aggressor system). A wireless device (e.g., a UE) can berequested to perform measurement on victim system and/or receive datafrom a victim system during low interference measurement occasions.These measurement/scheduling occasions can fully overlap with or can bea subset of the low interference occasions in aggressor system, meaningthat a restricted pattern for measurement/scheduling may need to beindicated to the wireless device. Such restricted measurement patternsmay be the same or different from restricted measurement patterns usedfor intra-system communication.

In some embodiments, a restricted measurement pattern (DL or UL) may beconfigured in a victim system in response and/or adaptively to a guardband pattern in the aggressor system, or in another embodiment a guardband pattern may be adaptively configured in response to one or moremeasurement patterns used in the victim system. The two patterns may ormay not use the same time units (e.g., subframes or radio frames or afixed-time unit for a guard band pattern), and the two patterns may ormay not be the same or exactly the same. In one example, however, thetwo patterns fully overlap (no more resources are wasted/not used fortransmissions in the aggressor system than needed and no more resourcesdemanding low-interference conditions are allocated in the victim UE).

In some other embodiments, restricted measurement patterns forco-existence scenarios may be adapted to overlap with intra-systemrestricted measurement patterns used for the standardized eICIC andFeICIC (Frequency enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination). Theadaptation may be performed (e.g., according to a rule or a requirement)by a third node, autonomously by a victim node, or by a victim system ingeneral, using a coordinating node. The overlap may be a full overlap ora partial overlap, e.g., at least X % or in X subframes out of Y, etc.The overlap may also be specified in terms of a subset or a superset(e.g., the intra-band measurement pattern may be a subset/superset ofthe measurement pattern for co-existence.

In still other embodiments, transmit patterns (e.g., with ABS or almostblank subframes which are a type of low power and/or low activity timeperiods) which may be used for intra-band inter-cell interferencecoordination, are adaptively configured to account for pattern-basedguard bands, or the other way around (i.e., pattern-based guard bandsare adaptively configured to account for ABS). The pattern-based guardbands may thus be interpreted as inter-system ABS enabling co-existenceof two or more systems. The adaptation may be performed (e.g., accordingto a rule or a requirement) by the victim or aggressor system, or by athird node. The adaptation may include controlling an overlap betweenlow power/activity time periods and pattern-based guard bands. Forexample, the overlap between pattern-based guard bands and lowpower/activity patterns may be increased/maximized, to efficiently useaggressor system resources if the aggressor system uses ABS forintra-band eICIC.

Compared to statically configured guard bands, pattern-based guard bandsmay reduce a number of measurement occasions with preferred interferenceconditions which may impact the measurement accuracy and/or measurementperiod and/or performance target and/or measurement configuration (e.g.,a large bandwidth may only be configured in time occasions protected bythe pattern-based guard bands).

The pattern based guard bands to enable low-interference measurementand/or scheduling occasions may in particular be very useful for lowcost devices such as those used for MTC (Machine Type Communications) orM2M (Machine to Machine) communication or for D2D (Device to Device)communication. For these devices, the occasional datareception/transmission and infrequent measurement sampling are stillbeneficial. This is because they may have generally very low datareception/transmission activity and can also afford to have lowermeasurement performance, e.g., longer measurement period due to guardband patterns.

Pattern-based guard bands may also be beneficial with D2D communicationswhere devices are also capable of operating in different systems, forexample, to enhance UE-to-UE co-existence, or to improve, for example,neighbor device detection.

Fifth Embodiments Relation to Requirements and Testing

(Embodiments relating to requirements and testing may also use, fully orpartially, embodiments described in other sections and/or elementsthereof.)

Requirements may be set depending on the pattern-based guard bandconfiguration or to test the nodes' ability to configure a pattern-basedguard band. A victim UE or a network node may adapt its behavior (e.g.,transmissions and/or measurements) so that a requirement is met, wherethe requirement may be an RF requirement such as out-of-band emissionrequirement, an RRM (Radio Resource Management) requirement such as anaccuracy or measurement period requirement (a measurement following thepattern-based guard band may require longer time), or a UE performancerequirement such as CSI (Channel State Information) or demodulationrequirement. An aggressor UE or node may need to adapt its behavior, forexample, for transmissions and retransmissions scheduling, transmitactivity patterns, UE scheduling, measurement configuration (e.g., fortwo-way measurements such as RTT or Rx-Tx, DTX, etc.), etc.

A test equipment (TE) or a test system (TS) (e.g., a system simulator(SS), emulator, test nodes, etc.) may configure pattern-based guard bandpatterns that mimic pattern-based guard bands, and may implement, atleast in part, any one or more of Embodiments 1, 2, 3, or 4 discussedabove.

The TE or TS may implement the signaling protocol, pre-defined rules,and/or pre-defined requirements associated with the pattern based guardband described in preceding sections.

The TE or TS may configure the device under test (DUT) (e.g., a UE or abase station) with the test procedure associated with the pattern basedguard band. The TE or TS may receive measurement results, data, and/orsignaling messages from the DUT as part of the test procedures. The TEor TS may interpret results or feedback information from DUT and comparewith the pre-defined results or behavior. As a consequence, the TE or TScan determine whether the DUT is capable of implementing procedures,signaling protocols, pre-defined behavior, pre-defined requirements,etc. associated with the pattern based guard band described in precedingsections.

A test equipment (TE) or a test system (TS) (e.g., a system simulator orSS, an emulator, test nodes, etc.) may also configure pattern-based OCNG(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing or OFDM Channel NoiseGenerator) patterns that mimic generation of interference similar tothat by the pattern-based guard bands. In prior systems, the OCNGpatterns may be used to model allocations to virtual UEs (which are notunder test) in LTE. The OCNG patterns generate noise to modelinterference for the UE which is under test. The generated noise isOrthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) based signal. Inprior systems, OCNG patterns may be used to generate noise in contiguousunits of resources in frequency domain and the remaining contiguous unitmay be used for allocation to the UE (e.g. Physical Downlink SharedChannel (PDSCH) transmission for configuration, reference measurementchannel, etc). The OCNG patterns may be implemented in test equipment(e.g., a system simulator or emulator) and also in a real network node(e.g., an eNodeB) which is used for the testing of the UE or relay orsimilar devices.

The TE or TS may require a control unit, a processing until and a memoryunit to perform different types of tests or verification or generationof noise by virtue of pattern based OCNG patterns described above.

ABBREVIATIONS

-   3GPP 3^(1d) Generation Partnership Project-   BS Base Station-   CRS Cell-specific Reference Signal-   DUT Device under test-   eICIC enhanced ICIC-   eNodeB evolved Node B-   ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination-   LTE Long-Term Evolution-   OCNG OFDM Channel Noise Generator-   PCI Physical Cell Identity-   RAT Radio Access Technology-   RRC Radio Resource Control-   SINR Signal-to-Interference Ratio-   UE User Equipment-   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

Further Definitions and Embodiments

In the above-description of various embodiments of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein isfor the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, allterms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have thesame meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the artto which this invention belongs. It will be further understood thatterms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of this specification and the relevant art and will not beinterpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly sodefined herein.

When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”,“responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directlyconnected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”,or variants thereof to another element, there are no interveningelements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereofas used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described indetail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”,“include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variantsthereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features,integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not precludethe presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore,as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from theLatin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify ageneral example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is notintended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”,which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify aparticular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods,apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. Itis understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer programinstructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit ofa general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit,and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine,such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of thecomputer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transformand control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and otherhardware components within such circuitry to implement functions/actsspecified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks, andthereby create means, functionality, and/or structure to implementfunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchartblock(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block or blocks.

A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium may include anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor datastorage system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples of thecomputer-readable medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM) circuit, a read-onlymemory (ROM) circuit, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory) circuit, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), and a portable digital video disc read-only memory(DVD/BlueRay).

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computerand/or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer and/or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus provide steps to implement the functions/actsspecified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks.Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied inhardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signalprocessor, which may collectively be referred to as “circuitry,” “amodule” or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, thefunctions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted inthe flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowchartsand/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or thefunctionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or blockdiagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks maybe added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/orblocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope of theinvention. Moreover, although some of the diagrams include arrows oncommunication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it isto be understood that communication may occur in the opposite directionto the depicted arrows.

Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connectionwith the above description and the drawings. It will be understood thatit would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe andillustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments.Accordingly, the present specification, including the drawings, shall beconstrued to constitute a complete written description of variousexample combinations and subcombinations of embodiments and of themanner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims toany such combination or subcombination.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present invention.All such variations and modifications are intended to be included hereinwithin the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and notrestrictive.

1. A method in a first node for handling a pattern-based guard band, thefirst node being comprised in a wireless communications network, themethod comprising: configuring the pattern-based guard band, thepattern-based guard band comprising a pattern, the pattern comprising atleast a first set of time resources and a second set of time resources,wherein the first set of time resources is associated with a first guardband configuration and the second set of time resources is associatedwith one of: no guard band configuration and a second guard bandconfiguration, wherein the second guard band configuration is differentfrom the first guard band configuration.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the guard band comprises at least one of: an unused spectrum andspectrum with restricted operation.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the first set of time resources and the second set of timeresources comprises at least one of: a time slot, a subframe and a radioframe.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first node is one of: anaggressor system and a victim system.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising signalling the configured pattern-based guard band to asecond node in the wireless communication network.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the pattern is adaptively configured based on at leastone of: time- and/or frequency-varying aggressor interference from anaggressor system, amount of impact on a victim system of differenttransmissions in the aggressor system, time- and/or frequency-varyingvictim signal receptions in the victim system, and sensitivity to theaggressor interference of different victim signal receptions in thevictim system.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern isassociated with at least one of: a DownLink, DL, or UpLink, UL,transmission, a duplex configuration in aggressor or victim, a UL-DLTime Division Duplex configuration, a transmit activity pattern in anaggressor or a victim, a receive pattern in a victim, and a specificsignal of a victim or an aggressor.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe pattern further comprises information on at least one of: patternlength, frequency information of an aggressor, multi-level patternsequence, time unit and granularity of pattern sequence, patternrepetition type, periodicity or repetition period, reference time pointfrom where a sequence is calculated or derived, starting time point fromwhen the pattern applies, ending time point until which the patternapplies, duration of pattern, modification time, starting condition,ending condition, modification condition, transmit power level inaggressor system, direction of applicability of guard band pattern, andlocation information where guard band pattern is applied.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the configuring is based on information regarding acapability of supporting guard band patterns of at least one of: thesecond node and a third node in the wireless communications network. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein the configuring is performed at least oneof: periodically, on a request from another node, upon being triggeredby an event, triggered by a condition, and upon expiry of a timer andafter certain time duration.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising reporting a capability of handling, implementing orconfiguring, a guard band pattern to one of: the second node and a thirdnode in the wireless communications network.
 12. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving a request from at least one of the secondnode and a third node in the wireless communications network toconfigure one or more guard band patterns.
 13. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving information from at least one of the secondnode and a third node in the wireless communications network, theinformation enabling the configuring of the pattern-based guard band.14. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring one of thesecond node and a third node to adapt at least one of its transmissionand its reception to the configured pattern-based guard band.
 15. Themethod of claim 9, wherein any of the first node, the second node or thethird node is one of: a first radio node, a second radio node, a networknode, or a wireless device.
 16. A method in a second node for handling apattern-based guard band, the second node being comprised in a wirelesscommunications network, the method comprising: obtaining a configuredpattern-based guard band, the pattern-based guard band comprising apattern, the pattern comprising at least a first set of time resourcesand a second set of time resources, wherein the first set of timeresources is associated with a first guard band configuration and thesecond set of time resources is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration, wherein the secondguard band configuration is different from the first guard bandconfiguration, wherein the pattern-based guard band is configured by afirst node in the wireless communications network, and adaptivelyconfiguring one more actions in response to the obtained pattern-basedguard band.
 17. A method in a third node for handling a pattern-basedguard band, the third node being comprised in a wireless communicationsnetwork, the method comprising: sending a request to a first node in thewireless communications network to configure a pattern-based guard band,the pattern-based guard band comprising a pattern, the patterncomprising at least a first set of time resources and a second set oftime resources, wherein the first set of time resources is associatedwith a first guard band configuration and the second set of timeresources is associated with one of: no guard band configuration and asecond guard band configuration, wherein the second guard bandconfiguration is different from the first guard band configuration. 18.A first node for handling a pattern-based guard band, the first nodebeing adapted to be comprised in a wireless communications network, thefirst node comprising: a configuring circuit configured to configure thepattern-based guard band, the pattern-based guard band comprising apattern, the pattern comprising at least a first set of time resourcesand a second set of time resources, wherein the first set of timeresources is associated with a first guard band configuration and thesecond set of time resources is associated with one of: no guard bandconfiguration and a second guard band configuration, wherein the secondguard band configuration is different from the first guard bandconfiguration.
 19. The first node of claim 18, further comprising asignalling circuit configured to signal the configured pattern-basedguard band to a second node adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunication network.
 20. The first node of claim 18, wherein theconfiguring circuit is further configured to adaptively configure thepattern based on at least one of: time- and/or frequency-varyingaggressor interference from an aggressor system, amount of impact on avictim system of different transmissions in the aggressor system, time-and/or frequency-varying victim signal receptions in the victim system,and sensitivity to the aggressor interference of different victim signalreceptions in the victim system.
 21. The first node of claim 18, whereinthe pattern further comprises information on at least one of: patternlength, frequency information of an aggressor, multi-level patternsequence, time unit and granularity of pattern sequence, patternrepetition type, periodicity or repetition period, reference time pointfrom where a sequence is calculated or derived, starting time point fromwhen the pattern applies, ending time point until which the patternapplies, duration of pattern, modification time, starting condition,ending condition, modification condition, transmit power level inaggressor system, direction of applicability of guard band pattern, andlocation information where guard band pattern is applied.
 22. The firstnode of claim 18, wherein the configuring circuit is further configuredto configure based on information regarding a capability of supportingguard band patterns of at least one of: the second node and a thirdnode, the third node being adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network.
 23. The first node of claim 18, wherein theconfiguring circuit is further configured to configure at least one of:periodically, on a request from another node, upon being triggered by anevent, triggered by a condition, and upon expiry of a timer and aftercertain time duration.
 24. The first node of claim 18, furthercomprising a reporting circuit configured to report a capability ofhandling, implementing or configuring, a guard band pattern to one of:the second node and a third node adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network.
 25. The first node of claim 18, furthercomprising a receiving circuit configured to receive a request from atleast one of the second node and a third node adapted to be comprised inthe wireless communications network to configure one or more guard bandpatterns.
 26. The first node of claim 18, wherein the receiving circuitis further configured to receive information from at least one of thesecond node and a third node adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network, the information enabling the configuring of thepattern-based guard band.
 27. The first node of claim 18, wherein theconfiguring circuit is further configured to configure one of the secondnode and a third node adapted to be comprised in the wirelesscommunications network to adapt at least one of its transmission and itsreception to the configured pattern-based guard band.
 28. The first nodeof claim 25, wherein any of the first node, the second node or the thirdnode is one of: a first radio node, a second radio node, a network node,or a wireless device.
 29. A second node for handling a pattern-basedguard band, the second node being adapted to be comprised in a wirelesscommunications network, the second node comprising: an obtaining circuitconfigured to obtain a configured pattern-based guard band, thepattern-based guard band comprising a pattern, the pattern comprising atleast a first set of time resources and a second set of time resources,wherein the first set of time resources is associated with a first guardband configuration and the second set of time resources is associatedwith one of: no guard band configuration and a second guard bandconfiguration, wherein the second guard band configuration is differentfrom the first guard band configuration, wherein the pattern-based guardband is configured by a first node adapted to be comprised in thewireless communications network, and a configuring circuit configured toadaptively configure one more actions in response to the obtainedpattern-based guard band.
 30. A third node for handling a pattern-basedguard band, the third node being adapted to be comprised in a wirelesscommunications network, the third node comprising: a sending circuitconfigured to send a request to a first node adapted to be comprised inthe wireless communications network, to configure a pattern-based guardband, the pattern-based guard band comprising a pattern, the patterncomprising at least a first set of time resources and a second set oftime resources, wherein the first set of time resources is associatedwith a first guard band configuration and the second set of timeresources is associated with one of: no guard band configuration and asecond guard band configuration, wherein the second guard bandconfiguration is different from the first guard band configuration.